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The night remained as dark as the mood that hung in the air.
Li Luo peered into the darkness, which was occasionally interrupted by flashes of resonant power. The number of flashes surprised him greatly.
"This Zhu Xuan is a real nasty piece of work himself."
Although he had suspected that Zhu Xuan had not come alone, he had assembled a small army for himself, by the looks of him. He had brought a gun to a gunfight.
Clearly, he had no intention of sharing the Golden Dragon Qi with Zhao Ziyang and his gang.
Not only was he hoping to take Zhao Ziyang's place, he intended to replace the rest of the protection alliance with his own as well.
This guy sure didn't aim low.
Ambitious, and charismatic enough to get all these people to rally for his cause.
If not for Li Luo egging on Zhao Ziyang to spring a fight, Zhu Xuan would probably have taken his time to maneuver his troops into position and then clean them all up at once.
And once Zhao Ziyang was prised away from the prize, then Zhu Xuan could swoop in to "protect" Lu Qing'er. He might even find an excuse to send the rest of her squad away.
After all, Zhu Xuan bore him no good feelings.
"I wonder if Zhao Ziyang's guys can stand up to Zhu Xuan's..." Li Luo idly wondered. If Zhao Ziyang happened to turn the tables, he was going to have to find another opponen- er, protection alliance partner.
However, the present chaos also seemed like a good time for them to make their escape.
Li Luo suddenly realized that the campfire had become rather quiet. The watchers on guard had gone still.
Li Luo's nostrils flared as he detected a strange odor in the air.
His eyes widened.
Dizzying gas!
A heavy stupor crashed over his skull, but in his flash of clarity, Li Luo used his wood resonant power, flushing out his body with the detoxifying resonance. A few moments later, the haziness cleared.
His expression did not. Something serious was going down.
He scrutinized the darkness carefully, then he finally locked on to a certain spot. "Come out."
Nothing.
And then he heard light footsteps as a figure stepped out quietly.
His eyes were locked onto Li Luo.
The campfire's swaying flames cast a flickering mix of illumination and shadow, but the suboptimal light was enough for Li Luo to make out the face. The enigmatic Lin Suo.
From the start, Li Luo had sensed that this guy was trouble.
"You didn't fall to the Gauze Cloud?" Lin Suo asked pleasantly.
"Did Zhu Xuan send you?"
Li Luo frowned. He had clearly underestimated Zhu Xuan. Not only had he assembled an army to take on lava-fist, he had even sent his partner to prevent Li Luo from escaping.
Lin Suo just smiled.
Li Luo was watching him alertly. He was very leery of this guy, and he privately suspected him of being an assassin snuck in by some power that wanted to see House Luolan fall, here to kill him.
Although Yu Hongxi had said that Lin Suo was from Golden Dragon Bank, that had not made Li Luo a single bit less cautious.
If Lin Suo was after him, he would not pass up on such a good chance...
Although Lin Suo was only formally a First Changing, Li Luo felt that this man was not that simple a character.
Lin Suo showed no inclination to chat. His resonant power shot forth, a hue of red even darker than Zhao Ziying's vermilion power. There was a rusty smell that Li Luo found all too familiar.
This was... blood resonance?
A rare power indeed.
Lin Suo turned into a rust-red blur as he streaked towards Li Luo.
"What speed!" Li Luo barely took his knives out in time, his own resonant power sputtering to life with ragged speed.
His weapons flashed out in identical, deadly swings, cutting towards the mysterious attacker.
The streak passed his blades easily, evading him as Lin Suo appeared behind Li Luo.
He ignored Li Luo completely, moving towards a tent.
Lu Qing'er's tent!
Lin Suo sprayed a mouthful of bloody resonant power that landed on the tent and dissolved it instantly, revealing a sleeping Lu Qing'er.
He pounced.
The bizarre sequence of events had Li Luo frozen in place, unsettled and unsure. Who had sent this guy? Why hadn't he taken the chance to finish Li Luo off?
Regardless, he could not allow Lin Suo to harm Lu Qing'er.
Lin Suo stretched out a hand to the sleeping girl, but he felt a deadly swath of resonant power blast past him.
It was deadly enough that he had to respect it.
His outstretched hand was flung backwards, delivering a backhand blast of crimson power that deflected Li Luo's swords.
Ding!
Li Luo's ears rang from the attack. He was alarmed to see that the dual resonant powers on his blades had been completely extinguished.
That power was far beyond what a First Changing could use!
He was at least as strong as Zhao Ziyang or Zhu Xuan!
This Lin Suo was indeed hiding his true strength!
"Why did you go to such lengths to hide your power?" he demanded. "Who sent you? And what are you after, if not me?"
"After you?" Lin Suo said with a mocking laugh that was carried away by the wind.
"Young Lord of House Luolan, the world does not revolve around you. I have no interest in you. Now, if you know what's good for you, get lost."
Li Luo cringed a little. All this time he had assumed Lin Suo was after his back, but now it seemed like his guesses were wrong.
"If not me, then... Qing'er?"
"Weren't you from the Tiancang branch of the Golden Dragon Bank? Aren't you afraid of President Yu's wrath? What's your intention?"
Lin Suo ignored Li Luo, instead pulling out a shining, black gourd that was about the size of his thumb.
He balanced it carefully in the center of his palm, then he flicked it with a finger towards the sleeping Lu Qing'er's brow.
Some black smoke seeped out of the gourd, hovering over Lu Qing'er's head for a moment before being sucked back in.
To Li Luo's horror, he saw a golden aura begin to rise from Lu Qing'er's forehead, as if it were being sucked into the black gourd.
That mystical, golden mist had to be…
Golden Dragon Qi!
This Lin Suo could extract the Golden Dragon Qi from within Lu Qing'er's body?!
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The night remained as dark as the mood that hung in the air.
Li Luo peered into the darkness, which was occasionally interrupted by flashes of resonant power. The number of flashes surprised him greatly.
"This Zhu Xuan is a real nasty piece of work himself."
Although he had suspected that Zhu Xuan had not come alone, he had assembled a small army for himself, by the looks of him. He had brought a gun to a gunfight.
Clearly, he had no intention of sharing the Golden Dragon Qi with Zhao Ziyang and his gang.
Not only was he hoping to take Zhao Ziyang's place, he intended to replace the rest of the protection alliance with his own as well.
This guy sure didn't aim low.
Ambitious, and charismatic enough to get all these people to rally for his cause.
If not for Li Luo egging on Zhao Ziyang to spring a fight, Zhu Xuan would probably have taken his time to maneuver his troops into position and then clean them all up at once.
And once Zhao Ziyang was prised away from the prize, then Zhu Xuan could swoop in to "protect" Lu Qing'er. He might even find an excuse to send the rest of her squad away.
After all, Zhu Xuan bore him no good feelings.
"I wonder if Zhao Ziyang's guys can stand up to Zhu Xuan's..." Li Luo idly wondered. If Zhao Ziyang happened to turn the tables, he was going to have to find another opponen- er, protection alliance partner.
However, the present chaos also seemed like a good time for them to make their escape.
Li Luo suddenly realized that the campfire had become rather quiet. The watchers on guard had gone still.
Li Luo's nostrils flared as he detected a strange odor in the air.
His eyes widened.
Dizzying gas!
A heavy stupor crashed over his skull, but in his flash of clarity, Li Luo used his wood resonant power, flushing out his body with the detoxifying resonance. A few moments later, the haziness cleared.
His expression did not. Something serious was going down.
He scrutinized the darkness carefully, then he finally locked on to a certain spot. "Come out."
Nothing.
And then he heard light footsteps as a figure stepped out quietly.
His eyes were locked onto Li Luo.
The campfire's swaying flames cast a flickering mix of illumination and shadow, but the suboptimal light was enough for Li Luo to make out the face. The enigmatic Lin Suo.
From the start, Li Luo had sensed that this guy was trouble.
"You didn't fall to the Gauze Cloud?" Lin Suo asked pleasantly.
"Did Zhu Xuan send you?"
Li Luo frowned. He had clearly underestimated Zhu Xuan. Not only had he assembled an army to take on lava-fist, he had even sent his partner to prevent Li Luo from escaping.
Lin Suo just smiled.
Li Luo was watching him alertly. He was very leery of this guy, and he privately suspected him of being an assassin snuck in by some power that wanted to see House Luolan fall, here to kill him.
Although Yu Hongxi had said that Lin Suo was from Golden Dragon Bank, that had not made Li Luo a single bit less cautious.
If Lin Suo was after him, he would not pass up on such a good chance...
Although Lin Suo was only formally a First Changing, Li Luo felt that this man was not that simple a character.
Lin Suo showed no inclination to chat. His resonant power shot forth, a hue of red even darker than Zhao Ziying's vermilion power. There was a rusty smell that Li Luo found all too familiar.
This was... blood resonance?
A rare power indeed.
Lin Suo turned into a rust-red blur as he streaked towards Li Luo.
"What speed!" Li Luo barely took his knives out in time, his own resonant power sputtering to life with ragged speed.
His weapons flashed out in identical, deadly swings, cutting towards the mysterious attacker.
The streak passed his blades easily, evading him as Lin Suo appeared behind Li Luo.
He ignored Li Luo completely, moving towards a tent.
Lu Qing'er's tent!
Lin Suo sprayed a mouthful of bloody resonant power that landed on the tent and dissolved it instantly, revealing a sleeping Lu Qing'er.
He pounced.
The bizarre sequence of events had Li Luo frozen in place, unsettled and unsure. Who had sent this guy? Why hadn't he taken the chance to finish Li Luo off?
Regardless, he could not allow Lin Suo to harm Lu Qing'er.
Lin Suo stretched out a hand to the sleeping girl, but he felt a deadly swath of resonant power blast past him.
It was deadly enough that he had to respect it.
His outstretched hand was flung backwards, delivering a backhand blast of crimson power that deflected Li Luo's swords.
Ding!
Li Luo's ears rang from the attack. He was alarmed to see that the dual resonant powers on his blades had been completely extinguished.
That power was far beyond what a First Changing could use!
He was at least as strong as Zhao Ziyang or Zhu Xuan!
This Lin Suo was indeed hiding his true strength!
"Why did you go to such lengths to hide your power?" he demanded. "Who sent you? And what are you after, if not me?"
"After you?" Lin Suo said with a mocking laugh that was carried away by the wind.
"Young Lord of House Luolan, the world does not revolve around you. I have no interest in you. Now, if you know what's good for you, get lost."
Li Luo cringed a little. All this time he had assumed Lin Suo was after his back, but now it seemed like his guesses were wrong.
"If not me, then... Qing'er?"
"Weren't you from the Tiancang branch of the Golden Dragon Bank? Aren't you afraid of President Yu's wrath? What's your intention?"
Lin Suo ignored Li Luo, instead pulling out a shining, black gourd that was about the size of his thumb.
He balanced it carefully in the center of his palm, then he flicked it with a finger towards the sleeping Lu Qing'er's brow.
Some black smoke seeped out of the gourd, hovering over Lu Qing'er's head for a moment before being sucked back in.
To Li Luo's horror, he saw a golden aura begin to rise from Lu Qing'er's forehead, as if it were being sucked into the black gourd.
That mystical, golden mist had to be…
Golden Dragon Qi!
This Lin Suo could extract the Golden Dragon Qi from within Lu Qing'er's body?!
