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"Li Luo, are you alright?" Lu Ming asked concernedly.

Li Luo nodded to reassure her, then he tossed away the limp vine.

"What the hell was that all about?" she demanded.

"I told you—finding a way out of our situation." Li Luo grinned.

"And... Did you find it?" she asked doubtfully.

"I did. I also learned why the Thunderpeal Tree is attacking us," he said.

She stared at him. That seemed too good to be true, but his expression was utterly serious. It did not seem like he was joking, so she swallowed her skepticism for the moment. "And why is it attacking us?"

"Because it has been corrupted," he said. That was nothing new—the seeds of corruption in the Thunderpeal Fruits had proved as much.

The bigger question was how. The corruption here was faint, and there were no signs of Others anywhere. Plus, the Thunderpeal Tree was a miraculous existence with incredible energy of its own. How could it be so easily corrupted?

"The reason why the corruption here is faint is not due to its absence, but because it\'s all concentrated at the base," Li Luo explained patiently, pointing at the foot of the mountain.

From the image he had seen in his mind, it seemed like the Others were all gathered at the roots of the Thunderpeal Tree, and doing their evil work from there.

Lu Ming considered his words. They seemed logical enough.

"And what do you plan to do? We know the tree is corrupted, and it\'s attacking us. But truthfully, I don\'t think we have enough power to cleanse something of this magnitude," Lu Ming said.

The Thunderpeal Tree had power that might well surpass a Heavenly Pearl cultivator, not to mention its magical ability to absorb a constant source of energy from its environment. It was barely using any power to deal with the three Heavenly Pearl experts currently.

And such an existence had been corrupted. How difficult would it be to cleanse?

They would need a Duke for this.

"Perhaps it is possible," Li Luo said. "The distress signal I received came from the remaining traces of sentience that the tree holds on to. It proves that the tree is not completely corrupted yet. If we can just help it out, it should have some ability to cleanse itself. Don\'t underestimate the old, wooden thing."

Lu Ming was really hoping that what he had said was true.

"One more problem—if you want to help it, where would you even start?"

"The image showed me what I should do," Li Luo answered. "But... it will not be easy."

Lu Ming\'s eyes flickered. "You mean to go down? To the roots?"

Li Luo nodded slowly.

Lu Ming\'s heart sank. At the base of Thunderpeal Mountain, where the corruption and Others were rife... such a place would be extremely dangerous.

"This sort of mission must be entrusted to the Three and Four Star Hall seniors, right?" she said reasonably. "We\'re not strong enough to deal with it. The only reason we’re in this part of the competition is to raise the headcount."

"They can\'t go." Li Luo sighed.

"Why not?"

Li Luo raised a finger. "Firstly, the remaining consciousness of the Thunderpeal Tree can no longer control its actions or strength. That is why the corruption can force it to attack us. We need the First Princess and the others to help distract the corrupted part of its will.

"Secondly, we are already trapped in the tree\'s prison. It is not likely that we can break out of this trap and then re-invade from a different point. Which means that the only solution is for the Thunderpeal Tree to teleport us directly in with its last vestiges of strength. However, this strength is very limited, and can only send us Resonant Masters down. It cannot teleport anybody too strong.

"Because of these reasons," Li Luo concluded with a wry smile, "it\'s going to be us headcount-fillers that will do the dirty work."

Lu Ming was silent for a moment. "Well, Li Luo, you got your chance to be a hero again. I\'ll stay here and pray for your success. All the best, good luck, come back safe!"

"I\'m not the only Resonant Master here, you know..." Li Luo said meaningfully.

Lu Ming\'s eyes widened. She knew what he was implying. "Li Luo, you might want to be a hero, but I have no such inclination! I have no interest in such things!" She was a rational person who had weighed her odds against the rewards and her power against the challenge. She did not see how their limited strength would be of any use.

Although they could break the spirit mirror and save their lives, that was no guarantee either. Hadn\'t they just lost a squad who had that very same safety measure?

Although they were trapped in the Thunderpeal Tree\'s jail, they were not panicking yet. When they had no other option, they could still choose to be eliminated—a small price to pay compared to their lives.

"Well." Li Luo sighed. "Can\'t say I blame you. I see your logic. I just thought that the great Lu Ming was a woman to walk the world with, a fearless Amazon and a fine warrior. I guess I was wrong."

"That taunting isn\'t going to work," she snorted at him. "And it means nothing coming from a poison-using weasel."

Li Luo rubbed his chin. "Actually, I thought of something else also. The Thunderpeal Tree is a gigantic treasure. If I help it out, it\'ll be indebted to me, right? Perhaps it\'ll give me a few Thunderpeal Fruits in gratitude—uncorrupted, of course—and then I\'ll have the Thunderpeal Avatar, right?

"But of all the people here longing for the avatar, you\'re probably the one who wants it most... right? I mean... you have a lightning resonance, so you can use the Thunderpeal Avatar best.

"Right?"

Lu Ming\'s eyes flickered anew. Their squad had come to Thunderpeal Mountain largely because of her suggestion. And of course, she had wanted to come here for the Thunderpeal Fruits. She had been the most devastated one when they had realized the first two fruits were corrupted.

And now Li Luo was suggesting that there might still be a chance at getting some good fruits if they helped the tree out...

A sentient tree would definitely pay its debts.

Lu Ming struggled with herself for a while. “Damn! Damn you, Li Luo, tempting me like this!”

"There\'s nothing much to worry about, actually. I think the most likely reason why the other squad disappeared is that they ate corrupted Thunderpeal Fruits and were unable to break the mirrors in time. We just need to be a little more careful, and we won\'t wind up the same way.

"With the spirit mirrors, our safety is guaranteed," Li Luo said, giving her one final push as he smelled weakness.

Lu Ming gritted her teeth and glared at him.

"Fine! We\'re going! I\'m going with you!"