Hearing Tie Dong's question, the Demon Lords behind him naturally knew who he was asking.
The three Demon Lords stationed in Zhouyang Town glanced at each other. In the end, it was the middle-aged demonic cultivator who had investigated the matter who quickly flew closer to Tie Dong and briefly described his findings in a low voice, also mentioning his own opinions.
After listening, Tie Dong's face remained expressionless, making the three Demon Lords from Zhouyang Town feel uneasy, fearing he would suddenly attack and kill them himself.
Meanwhile, Tie Dong was thinking to himself, 'Windy Cool Mountain was really willing to take such a great risk. The objective of that squad was definitely not as simple as just taking one person away! What conspiracy lies behind this that would prompt them to make such a big move?'
Tie Dong was also annoyed by his own side's misjudgment yesterday. When Windy Cool Mountain sent out two Nascent Souls and eight Golden Cores to raid them, they thought their intentions had been discovered by the enemy. Thus, all their attention was focused on them. Who would have expected that a master skilled in concealment was hidden among them, all for the sake of a scout squad that had appeared out of nowhere? Not only did this person traverse nearly ten thousand li, but they also caused a Demon Lord to go missing, and in the end, that Golden Core cultivator returned safely with his target.
It wasn't until the two Nascent Souls from Windy Cool Mountain suddenly turned back that they felt something was wrong. After Tie Dong personally investigated, he realized the enemy hadn't mobilized because they had seen through the Demon Clan's plan, but that scout squad had certainly obtained some intelligence.
...
Li Yan only woke up a day later. He had no idea what had happened in the outside world, and no one had come to inform him of anything.
In Wei Zhongran's view, even if Li Yan's physical body possessed some strange restorative power, it would take at least five to ten days for him to basically recover, so he simply ignored him.
Moreover, Wei Zhongran had already personally led a team away from Windy Cool Mountain to meet the demonic army.
After waking up, Li Yan assessed the condition of his body. A small amount of Spirit Power had been restored, and the piercing pain in his Divine Sense was gone. At the very least, getting out of bed and walking around would no longer leave him as weak as before.
Looking at the bloodstains all over himself, Li Yan finally remembered. With a wry smile, he immediately got out of bed for a simple wash. Just casting the Cloud and Rain Art once left him feeling a little breathless.
"I was lucky to survive this time. I almost really went to the Netherworld. I wonder if that place even exists." Li Yan panted heavily, shaking his head at his current state.
After letting his thoughts wander for a while, Li Yan composed himself. He didn't know if the demonic army had already reached this place, but what he needed to do now was to recover his cultivation as quickly as possible. In his current state, forget about self-preservation, even running a mere hundred feet would cause him to collapse.
After catching his breath, Li Yan immediately sat cross-legged, his five centers facing the heavens, and carefully circulated the True Scripture of Gui Water, slowly absorbing the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth.
He knew his meridians were incredibly fragile right now, so he dared not inhale and exhale as he used to. After drawing wisps of Spiritual Energy into his Dantian and sensing the slight tingling pain as it passed through his meridians without any other issues, he slowly relaxed.
Then, Li Yan stopped absorbing the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth. He used only the tiny bit of Spirit Power in his Dantian to carefully and cautiously circulate it through his meridians and flesh over and over. He wanted to let this newly reformed body's meridians slowly adapt to the impact of Spirit Power and nourish them in the process.
Half a day later, faint black qi swirled around Li Yan as he sat in his Cave Residence. His breathing was even, and he had entered a state of self-forgetfulness.
A day later, Li Yan began to hold a Spirit Stone in each hand. The Spiritual Energy around him started to thicken. Li Yan's expression was devoid of joy or sorrow, and his complexion had returned to normal, no longer as pale as before.
Another day later, dozens of grayed Spirit Stones were piled up beside Li Yan. Ripples of black qi spread out from his body, transforming into misty water-like threads that lingered within three feet of him. This was a sign that the True Scripture of Gui Water was beginning to operate smoothly. At this moment, Li Yan's breath was long and deep.
On the fifth day, Li Yan slowly opened his eyes. A sharp glint of light flashed and disappeared within them, causing the entire Cave Residence to brighten for a moment before returning to normal.
The Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant, which had been dozing in a corner of the cave, lifted its head, then went back to sleep with a snore. Seeing Li Yan full of spirit and energy, it felt even more assured of its own little life.
Looking at the nearly one hundred Spirit Stones he had consumed, Li Yan muttered to himself.
"After consuming so many Spirit Stones in a row, I've finally recovered. But the toughness of my reconstructed physical body hasn't improved much. It's still at the level I reached after refining the Undead Nether Phoenix's essence blood."
After sensing the strength in his body, Li Yan's thoughts turned.
"I wonder what the situation is like outside, but at least Windy Cool Mountain should be fine."
Li Yan quietly released his Divine Sense. He discovered that after his Divine Sense swept over Windy Cool Mountain, the number of cultivators present had significantly decreased, and strong fluctuations of Spirit Power were coming from the south.
A moment later, Li Yan retracted his Divine Sense, stroking his chin in thought.
'So the war has started. If I go out in my current state and encounter a powerful demonic cultivator again, the outcome won't be much different than before. Moreover, that sliver of Undead Nether Phoenix essence blood in my body has been completely integrated and used for reconstruction.'
'If I find myself in a life-or-death situation again, besides the True Essence Pills, I have no other life-saving trump cards.'
So, should he go out now, or should he refine another sliver of the Undead Nether Phoenix's essence blood before going out?
Li Yan was in a dilemma. The cultivators of Windy Cool Mountain were probably all fighting the demonic cultivators. He had already recovered, and if he continued to cultivate, it would be somewhat unjustifiable.
But when he thought about the limited impact he could have if he went out now, Li Yan hesitated. He naturally wanted more life-saving capital.
There was only one way to quickly increase his strength: refine another sliver of the Undead Nether Phoenix's essence blood. Improving the Qiongqi Purgatory Art and his magic power was not something that could be achieved overnight.
"I'll try refining it for one day. If it feels as difficult as it was in the Sea of the Northern Abyss, possibly taking a year and a half, then I'll give up the day after tomorrow. I was planning to cultivate for another day anyway, to consolidate and adapt to this new body."
Having made up his mind, Li Yan immediately began to regulate his breath. He didn't believe that the outcome of the war would be any different with him missing for a single day; he wasn't a Nascent Soul or Spirit Transformation cultivator who could turn the tide of the universe.
Moreover, Li Yan had a new theory about this round of refining. He immediately reached out and slapped his waist. The Li Fire Profound Yellow Fan was already hovering before his eyes, emitting the same faint yellow halo as before.
He then lifted an index finger and tapped it lightly. The Li Fire Profound Yellow Fan flickered with light, and after a slight distortion in the space before him, a Blood River materialized in front of him.
Without any further ado, Li Yan directly inserted his index finger into the Blood River. His Divine Sense instantly located an extremely fine silver thread. With a slight tug of his finger, the silver thread wrapped around his finger like a nimble snake.
Li Yan's body trembled violently, and a look of pain, just like the one from a few days ago, appeared on his face. But Li Yan squeezed his eyes shut and secretly circulated the incantations in his heart…
An unknown amount of time passed. Li Yan, who was cultivating in his Cave Residence, suddenly frowned. The Windy Cool Mountain token hanging from his waist was emitting a low "buzzing" sound. Li Yan was finally awakened.
'How long have I been in samadhi?'
His Divine Sense first swept through the Blood River, and he couldn't help but be startled. He sensed that only a little over eighty percent of the drop of Undead Nether Phoenix essence blood remained in the river. Back then, it had taken him a year and a half to refine ten percent of the essence blood. Had a year passed already?
Although the process of refining the essence blood was excruciatingly painful, this time, after refining it, Li Yan had entered a state of semi-samadhi. The pain he had experienced before had become illusory in his perception. This was something that had never happened during his first refinement of the Undead Nether Phoenix's essence blood.
Seeing that he had refined an amount of essence blood that would have previously taken about a year to fuse with, Li Yan, despite having some prior suspicions, was momentarily unsure of how long he had been in samadhi. He felt as if time had become a blur, as if his spirit had wandered beyond the heavens.
The token at his waist continued to buzz, pulling Li Yan back from his contemplation. He slowly withdrew his finger from the Blood River and regulated his breath for a moment before taking down the token and immersing his Divine Sense into it.
As soon as his Divine Sense entered, Wei Zhongran's voice sounded, "Li Yan, if you have recovered, come to my Cave Residence!" It was just this one sentence, and Li Yan couldn't detect anything unusual in his tone.
After putting down the token, Li Yan stroked his chin and pondered for a while. He didn't know why Wei Zhongran had summoned him. Furthermore, his plan to refine the Undead Nether Phoenix's essence blood for one day had apparently been extended by several hundred times.
For a moment, he felt a bit awkward. This was the front line of the battlefield, a place of conflict with the Demon Clan. People like Gong Chenying had been called out from their seclusion before, yet he had cultivated for such a long time.
But at the same time, Li Yan was filled with a sense of joy. This time, by refining the Undead Nether Phoenix's essence blood, his physical body had once again improved by a large margin. It had even propelled his Qiongqi Purgatory Art from the initial stage of the second layer directly to the mid-stage.
Li Yan's Qiongqi Purgatory Art was now at the mid-stage of the second layer, a far cry from its original form. It was estimated that even if the elder of the Tianli Clan saw it again, he would only feel it was similar yet different, unable to determine what cultivation method Li Yan was actually practicing.
Li Yan's strength and defense were now more than twice what they were before. This naturally made him think that if he were to encounter the Mid-stage Golden Core Demon Lord from the valley again, although the chances of death would still be high, he definitely wouldn't be counter-shocked to the brink of death. Li Yan judged that if he still used "The Five Elements Return to Primordial Genesis" in the final strike, ambushing the demonic cultivator's throat, he should be able to cause about two breaths of suffocation and inflict heavier damage on the throat.
Don't underestimate this slight increase in attack power. Under normal cultivation, Li Yan would be unable to achieve this without truly cultivating to the Initial-stage Golden Core and supplementing his attacks with even more vigorous and abundant Spirit Power. For any cultivator, this was an extraordinary and astonishing improvement.
What surprised Li Yan even more was that, whether due to the reconstruction of his physical body or the refinement of the essence blood, his cultivation level had also improved, reaching the minor completion stage of the Pseudo-Core Realm.
One must know that it had only been a little over two years since Li Yan entered the Pseudo-Core Realm. Normally, for a Foundation Establishment cultivator, every step from entering the Pseudo-Core Realm to minor completion, and then to great completion, could take ten years, or even decades.
The reason why Zhuo Lingfeng had been unable to form a Golden Core for so long was partly because he was stuck at a minor bottleneck for many years, but the main reason was that he had given most of his cultivation resources to Huchen Wuding.
Amidst his pleasant surprise, the thought of the prerequisite for this kind of advancement made Li Yan unwilling to experience it a second time. To be honest, breaking through under pressure and the threat of death was too dangerous.
Death was not something he could control. Having the fearless heart of a strong person didn't mean he would really force himself step by step towards death. Li Yan was only willing to do things he was confident about. Caution and prudence were already deeply ingrained in his bones and blood.