Rumble!
The raging power of lightning caught even Gu Li off guard.
Deepest within the thunder pool churned terrifying purplish-black lightning—the pill tribulation lightning of tier-eight pills.
Although not as formidable as heavenly tribulation, it was not far behind.
After all, the sheer amount of lightning accumulated in this thunder pool was immense; Gu Changsheng was not the only tier-eight alchemist in the Gu clan.
The alchemists who typically visited the Gu clan were rarely of low rank.
Figures like Han Yuan and Guo Feng, for example.
Thus, over so many years, the total volume of lightning gathered in the Gu clan's thunder pool had reached a staggering scale.
Meng Wanshu also noticed Gu Li's arrival. Covered in glowing inscribed talismans, Gu Li charged inside amidst bursts of fiery light.
Whenever a bolt of lightning struck at him, an inscribed talisman would flare up and be consumed.
These talismans served a dual purpose: deflecting attacks while entirely concealing Gu Li's aura.
Consequently, Gu Li had an easier time entering than Meng Wanshu had, without setting off a violent uprising in the thunder pool.
Even so, Gu Li advanced with utmost caution; a single misstep could plunge all three of them into doom.
By now, Jiuxiao and the final black flood dragon had reached the final stage of their mating, their low roars and hisses echoing heavily.
Jiuxiao had also sensed the disturbance in the thunder pool and grew frantic with anxiety.
He did not want the others to get hurt on his account. Right then, Gu Li finally reached the pair.
Without a word, Gu Li raised his hands and plastered countless inscribed talismans onto Meng Wanshu and Li Guanqi.
Yet at that very moment, an unknown attack suddenly breached the barrier of the pocket domain and hurtled straight toward the heart of the thunder pool!
Gu Li's pupils contracted into pinpricks, his eyes trembling as he glared furiously into the void!
Two red cloud boats, measuring fully two hundred zhang in length, appeared out of the void.
Before anyone could react, the terrifying pillar of light crashed into the center of the thunder pool, instantly triggering a tempest of lightning!
The purplish-black lightning surged into a towering lightning tornado soaring toward the clouds.
The violent vortex swallowed Gu Li and the other two in an instant!
Talismans shattered one after another. Drenched in cold sweat from anxiety, Gu Li made his storage rings blaze with light as a torrential storm of inscribed talismans wrapped around all three of them.
He crushed several jade slips in rapid succession, but not a single spatial ripple formed.
Under the savage lightning storm, no spatial transmission could escape. Meng Wanshu's voice reached his ears:
"Forget it. They came prepared."
"Prepare to fight for our lives!"
At this time, Ye Feng and the others were preparing for their breakthroughs within the Gu clan's grotto-heaven blessed land, completely unaware of anything amiss on Li Guanqi's side.
The continuous eruption of power thoroughly roused Li Guanqi from his cultivation.
Waking with a start, Li Guanqi scanned his surroundings and understood what was happening immediately.
His expression darkened, and with a flip of his wrist, he drew the Red Lotus Sword!
A surge of pressure erupted outward as potent bloodline power surged through his veins.
Gripping Meng Wanshu's hand, he saw her covered in blood and lacerations, and a pang of heartache flashed in the depths of his eyes.
Reaching out, he peeled the inscribed talismans from his own body and slapped them onto Gu Li. The two exchanged a glance—everything was understood without a word.
Grabbing Gu Li by the collar, Li Guanqi relied on his monstrous physical might to plunge headfirst into the lightning storm.
At the same time, a chorus of flood dragon roars resounded.
Four pitch-black flood dragons, over a hundred zhang long, burst forth from the depths of the thunder pool!
A mighty demonic beast pressure exploded outward. The black flood dragons lowered their heads slightly to let Li Guanqi and the other two stand atop them. With a flick of their massive tails, they carried the trio straight out of the thunder pool's domain.
Just as the three emerged at the edge of the pocket domain, Jiuxiao's furious dragon roar echoed across a hundred li!
ROAR!
The four black flood dragons were brimming with intense yang energy, and the strongest among them even showed faint signs of an impending breakthrough.
The power of the other three had also reached the peak of the seventh rank.
Upon hearing Jiuxiao's dragon roar, the dark golden, slit-like pupils of the four black flood dragons flashed with savage ferocity.
A feral brutality unique to demonic beasts erupted violently!
Sensing this terrifying aura, all three of them felt a chill in their hearts. These black flood dragons were definitely not to be trifled with.
Each was more powerful than any of them at present.
Shattering the spatial boundary with a direct charge, the black flood dragon reared its massive body upright, opened its fanged maw, and roared toward the distant cloud boats!
The two cloud boats were merely several thousand zhang away.
The faint, concealed auras of immense power forced Li Guanqi to brace for battle.
His cold, piercing gaze swept the scene while Gu Li seized the moment to crush several jade slips to send distress messages to his clan.
Yet the spatial ripples of the jade slips vanished like clay oxen sinking into the sea.
Meng Wanshu drew her sword, Snow Shadow, and said in a grave voice, "It's useless. Since they dared to show themselves, they've clearly made every preparation."
"Right now..."
"The question is who they are, and whether we can handle them."
Li Guanqi narrowed his eyes; the flame spirit seal between his brows was on the verge of fracturing.
Gu Li had somehow covered his fingers in storage rings, each one glowing with a soft, faint shimmer.
Not only that, he rolled up his sleeves to reveal arms densely lined with bangles...
If that were not enough, Li Guanqi noticed that the thirty-six white jade ornaments on Gu Li's belt were also glowing with a mystical light.
Evidently, the white jades on his belt were no mere ornaments—they were thirty-six distinct storage spaces!
The corner of Li Guanqi's mouth twitched. A single storage ring of Gu Li's held at least a hundred thousand inscribed talismans.
With so many storage spaces, it was hard to imagine just how many talismans he had stockpiled!
Gu Li gritted his teeth and cursed under his breath, "Damn it all! Bring it on! Let's see what you've got today!"
Yet strangely, the moment the two cloud boats caught sight of the four black flood dragons, they erupted with bursts of light.
In the end, amid Gu Li's curses, they slipped into the void and vanished without a trace.
Gu Li frowned and murmured, "Hiss... Their escape method was quite something. The spatial inscribed talismans I planted in the void couldn't even mark them!"
"It felt... like the spatial fluctuation of an ancient teleportation scroll. I'm not very familiar with it."
Lowering Red Lotus, Li Guanqi finally let out a sigh of relief. He could clearly tell that the enemy had come for Jiuxiao!
Turning to Gu Li, he said in a low, heavy voice, "There is a traitor in your clan!"
"They were obviously after Jiuxiao. It's only been a few days since we arrived at the Gu clan, so finding this place could never be a coincidence!"
"Besides... those vermilion cloud boats looked rather familiar!"
Suddenly!
A flash of inspiration struck Li Guanqi's mind as he remembered where he had seen vermilion cloud boats before!
Back at the Great Xia Sword Sect, during the wagered arena matches with the Lu clan—the Zhu clan's cloud boats!
If he remembered correctly, that old woman was named Zhu Ying, and these cloud boats were seventy percent identical to the Zhu clan's.
All along, Li Guanqi had been on guard against the Lu clan after they lost the wagered arena, never expecting that the Zhu clan would be the ones to make a move!
A cold sneer curved at the corner of Li Guanqi's lips as he said chillingly, "Interesting!"
"It seems the Lu clan and the Zhu clan truly have no regard for the Seven Domains and Eight Generals!"
Neither Meng Wanshu nor Gu Li understood what Li Guanqi meant, only watching as he casually took out an azure jade slip and said:
"Uncle Nangong, I think I was just ambushed by the Zhu clan."
After speaking, Li Guanqi looked down at the remarkably docile black flood dragon beneath his feet and sighed with emotion:
"It seems I owe the Nine Dragons Immortal Sect a huge favor this time."
Chapter 865