Jiuxiao's Breakthrough!

By now, Li Guanqi had already entered a state of cultivation, his entire aura exceptionally heavy and still. Only the flame spirit seal at the center of his brow faintly flickered with a dim glow. Meng Wanshu sat cross-legged at the edge of the thunder pool, resting her chin on her hand, gazing at Li Guanqi with eyes that held only him. The mark between his brows helped him suppress the rampaging power within his body, yet it also restricted him from unleashing his full might. At present, he could only tap into eighty percent of his peak strength. If he exceeded that limit, the spirit seal between his brows would instantly shatter! Watching Gu Li return, Meng Wanshu smiled. That fellow’s temperament truly was as impetuous as a whirlwind. Four massive black flood dragons hovered there, each radiating an intensely ferocious pressure. Gu Li leaped down, looked at the cautious black flood dragons, and said with a hint of concern, "Jiuxiao is only at the peak of the sixth rank right now. I'm afraid he might not be able to keep these flood dragons under control." Meng Wanshu smiled faintly at his words. Looking at Jiuxiao, whose eyes gleamed with fierce hostility, she murmured softly, "You underestimate a true dragon a little too much." No sooner had she spoken than a majestic, low roar abruptly burst from Jiuxiao’s mouth. A vast dragon might swept through a hundred li of void! Reared up on its hindquarters, Jiuxiao’s draconic eyes flickered with flashes of vicious brilliance, his deep growl demanding their submission. The four black flood dragons had never experienced such pure dragon might before. Twisting their bodies uneasily, their slit-pupiled eyes stared fixedly at Jiuxiao. A spark of fury flared in Jiuxiao's heart. A dragon’s roar resounded across the firmament, and purple lightning surged violently around his body, erupting in full force! Drawn by his surging aura, the lightning within the thunder pool violently reared up! Rumble! Crash, rumble! Boom! The deafening thunder roared without pause. The reared-up Jiuxiao exuded an indescribable sense of overwhelming pressure! Even though his frame was not yet as massive as any single black flood dragon, the innate pride of the dragon race still allowed him to look down arrogantly upon the four creatures. The leading black flood dragon stood at the peak of the seventh rank, yet it was the first to succumb under Jiuxiao's dragon might, slightly lowering its head in submission. Because its bloodline was the closest to that of the dragon race, the oppressive might it endured was all the more intense. Immediately following that, all four black flood dragons flew into the thunder pool. The thunder pool surged. Hisses and low roars echoed out as lightning filled the sky, obscuring the vision of the two onlookers. Gu Li could only make out blurry shadows tangled together... Waves of pressure spread outward involuntarily. Gu Li clicked his tongue in wonder. "I'm afraid Jiuxiao's breakthrough this time is going to be rather violent." Meng Wanshu spoke with utter calm. "The seventh rank crowns a king. For Jiuxiao, this breakthrough is a certainty." "Still, I didn't expect you to actually persuade the Nine Dragons Immortal Sect to give up four peak seventh-rank black flood dragons." "Once Jiuxiao absorbs the yin energy of these four black flood dragons, his strength will bound forward." Gu Li shrugged and sent a mysterious voice transmission: "I didn't just swindle them out of the dragons; there's also a generous gift on top of that! Hahahaha!" Meng Wanshu felt a trace of surprise, but she did not press further. Gu Li simply dropped down onto the edge of the thunder pool and entered meditation. Spiritual light flashed rapidly beside him as profound talismanic spirit patterns manifested one after another. At present, thoughts gushed out of Gu Li's mind like a bubbling spring, and special inscribed talismans capable of being recognized by heaven and earth took shape one by one. The effects of these talismans varied, each bearing Gu Li's unique understanding. In other words... only Gu Li could ever draw these inscribed talismans! Meng Wanshu remained cross-legged at the edge of the thunder pool, her gaze fixed intently upon the young man tempering his body in the center, her expression complicated. After a long time, Meng Wanshu murmured softly to herself, "Just who is 'she'?" Indeed, when Li Guanqi had drawn the inscribed talisman using his finger as a brush earlier, Meng Wanshu had sensed an extremely peculiar presence. Though she could not be certain who it was, she was sure that the presence of a woman existed inside Li Guanqi's body! It was her intuition. That was why, back on the streets of the Spirit Fish Clan, Meng Wanshu's hand had hovered in midair without touching Li Guanqi. Shaking her head with a bitter smile, Meng Wanshu whispered in self-mockery, "Since when did I ever have to worry about such things?" Even so, Meng Wanshu still felt a little unhappy that Li Guanqi had hidden this from her. It was like... The person she cherished most in the world actually kept secrets from her! Yet on second thought, she felt considerably relieved. After all, she harbored secrets of her own as well. Secrets known only to herself—ones that even her father, Meng Jiangchu, knew nothing about! Meng Wanshu watched Li Guanqi within the thunder pool. After pondering for a long while, she decided she would find an opportunity to tell Li Guanqi her secret. She believed that between the two of them, there should be no concealment of such things. If Li Guanqi's secret involved matters of too great a magnitude, she would not pry into it either. Time slipped by, and Jiuxiao's strength surged in wave upon wave toward the peak, like a vast ocean rolling against the shore. In the end, Meng Wanshu could no longer maintain peaceful meditation. Opening her eyes, she cast a vigilant glance in all directions. Gu Li also awakened from his state of comprehension. Looking around at the ice-blue barrier, he let out a slight sigh of relief. Fortunately, Meng Wanshu was here; otherwise, it would have been impossible to conceal such terrifying dragon might. After a moment's thought, he raised his hand and cast out several silver-white inscribed talismans. A layer of silver radiance enveloped the entire pocket domain, and Meng Wanshu immediately felt the burden on her lighten considerably. Meanwhile, Li Guanqi sat at the outer perimeter of the thunder pool's center. With lightning churning around his body, he remained oblivious to anything unusual outside. Li Guanqi's recent breakthrough had left substantial hidden perils behind, making this body-tempering session in the thunder pool a prime opportunity to stabilize his realm. Gu Li said with concern, "Sister-in-law, the commotion from Brother Jiu's breakthrough is likely going to be rather huge." "We need to be careful. The moment he breaks through will be when he is at his weakest; others might very well be eyeing him." Meng Wanshu's expression grew stern; she naturally understood the gravity of the situation. By now, the auras of three of the black flood dragons had grown weak, meaning only the last one remained. The yin energy inside a peak seventh-rank black flood dragon was sufficient for Jiuxiao to achieve a smooth breakthrough, and perhaps his bloodline power would even advance another step. The disturbance here quickly reached a point where the space of the pocket domain could no longer bear it. Space twisted incessantly like air scorched by raging fire, tearing open fissures of varying sizes. Gu Li spoke with a solemn face. "Sister-in-law, we can't stay here anymore. I'll go pull Brother Li out so we can leave immediately!" Meng Wanshu took a stride directly into the thunder pool and said softly, "I'll go!" The moment the words left her mouth, the thunder pool beneath her feet surged wildly! The boiling thunder pool was like galloping warhorses on a battlefield, sweeping toward Meng Wanshu in an overwhelming deluge! A cold glint suddenly flashed in Gu Li's eyes, and he yelled, "Sister-in-law, look out!" Boom! The berserk thunder pool erupted with a roar, its tremendous force hurling Gu Li hundreds of zhang away to smash violently against the domain barrier. "Pfft!" Gu Li coughed up a mouthful of blood. Quickly realizing what had happened, he warned at once, "Primal energy will trigger the thunder pool to run wild!" As soon as he spoke, Gu Li saw the long-skirted woman disperse the primal energy shielding her body, using only her slender flesh to endure the raging lightning inside the thunder pool! Beneath the sky of lightning, Meng Wanshu relied solely on her physical strength to dodge and weave. Yet the bolts of lightning within the pool were simply too numerous—far too many for her to avoid. Pfft! A purple bolt of lightning as thick as a wrist pierced through her shoulder, yet she only let out a muffled grunt, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of her mouth. Without breaking stride, she continued hurtling toward the figure deep within the thunder pool. One strike, two strikes, ten strikes! By the time Meng Wanshu arrived before Li Guanqi, charred wounds from lightning piercing her flesh covered her from head to toe. Gu Li clenched his fists tightly, cursed under his breath, and slapped inscribed talismans all over his body! "Damn the consequences!" With that roar, he plunged headfirst into the thunder pool. If he did not go in, neither Meng Wanshu nor Li Guanqi would be able to make it out! Yet what he did not know was that danger had already quietly closed in! Two cloud boats that had remained concealed in the void for a long time slowly revealed themselves.