Li Yan, however, shook his head this time.
"No need, Master. I would rather go alone. With fewer people, the possibility of being exposed will be lower. At least everything will still be within my own control."
After thinking for a moment, he knew that carrying out this mission was an inevitable result. He did not dare to refuse even if he wanted to.
And thinking back to the trip to "Zhouyang Town," in terms of hiding alone, bringing people with him would only increase the chances of exposure. Although he would have fewer helpers, compared to the probability of being exposed, the possibility of death would be several times greater.
Li Yan still preferred to go alone. At that time, he would just act according to the circumstances.
"Are you... sure you need to do this?"
Wei Zhongran's expression froze, and then he confirmed again with a grave look on his face.
"This disciple is sure! I wonder when this disciple will depart? By the way, this disciple has something else. After this disciple leaves, will the defense here be handed over to Senior Brother Gong of Lord Lao Peak? He has fought at 'Bone-Grinding Mountain' for half a month, and his experience is much richer than others. However, after being ambushed by the enemy today, the casualties are already more than half. If there are no new cultivators to supplement, this place will not be able to hold on."
Since he had decided, Li Yan could only grit his teeth and hold on to the end. But he had already remembered the Nascent Soul cultivator who wanted to take the opportunity to kill him and establish his authority in his heart.
If he could survive this trip today, he would find out who this person was. He would definitely remember this "kindness." If he could one day step into the Nascent Soul realm, he would definitely pay a visit and ask for guidance.
He would not mention the matter of sensing the killing intent just now to anyone, and this included Wei Zhongran . If Wei Zhongran could have been stronger than the other party, he should have reacted just now.
Even if he had the opportunity to tell Wei Zhongran , it would only add more trouble.
Li Yan had always been one to repay an eye for an eye. Since his ability was insufficient, he could only bury it deep in his heart. This was forcing him to risk his life.
Then he thought of the defense here. He naturally had to hand over this hot potato, but he just said it nicely.
He didn't want to be held responsible if the defense was lost after he left. He would be taking the blame for someone else.
Although Li Yan felt that with his master here, the higher-ups would not randomly assign responsibility in such matters, he had to make it clear and absolve himself of all responsibility. That was his principle.
"Hehehe, I will naturally mobilize the cultivators from the rear to come up. But there is no need for Gong Yuantai to command. The grand formation here is already broken, and there is no longer any defensible terrain. Although 'Mutual Destruction Ridge' will be reshaped now, that kind of defensive grand formation cannot be set up in a short time. Looking at the opponent's offensive posture today, the Demon Clan army should have received a death order. They are determined to take 'Mutual Destruction Ridge,' and even the entire Windy Cool Mountain. I estimate... later... there will probably be Golden Core, and even Nascent Soul cultivators coming in person. I will personally take command here for some time. After it is stabilized and the situation is clarified, I will hand it over to others."
Wei Zhongran immediately understood the meaning in Li Yan's words. This disciple of his was very "clear about public and private affairs."
It was just that he was a little hesitant in his later words, but he still felt that his judgment that the other party's mid-to-high-level cultivators would come in person should be correct.
However, he still had a sentence he did not say out loud: "Perhaps after tonight, everything will be different!"
Hearing that his master would personally be stationed here, Li Yan was slightly surprised, but after hearing Wei Zhongran's analysis, he felt that it made a lot of sense.
Today, the Demon Clan had accumulated strength for many days and had suddenly launched an attack. After using a high-powered magical treasure, they still failed to conquer it. Of course, they could not just let it go.
It was just that he did not see that when Wei Zhongran was saying these words, his expression was somewhat grave and hesitant, but it was just a fleeting moment, and Li Yan of course did not notice.
"When will you depart? I need to ask a few Nascent Soul seniors to decide if this plan is feasible. After all, this plan of yours needs their consent, and even more so, their full cooperation!"
Wei Zhongran then returned to the topic of the mission.
But as soon as his voice fell, what he and Li Yan had not expected was that a resonant voice suddenly sounded in their minds.
"No need to ask for instructions. Just follow this kid's plan. Depart immediately. Time is of the essence. As long as he can get this object about a hundred zhang under the altar, then unless the other party has an existence stronger than a late-stage Nascent Soul Great Cultivator, no one will be able to discover this object."
This voice came suddenly. Although Wei Zhongran and Li Yan had long expected that someone had been spying on their conversation, for them to intervene so directly and without any concealment still made the two of them somewhat astonished.
Especially Wei Zhongran , who had his mind directly penetrated without his knowledge, frowned.
And Li Yan had another thought in his heart.
'So it's him! It's that voice that had appeared in mid-air before. Needless to say, the killing intent from just now came from this person!'
A look of astonishment appeared on Li Yan's face at the right time. In fact, the suddenness of this voice had already taken him by surprise. He had already firmly engraved this voice in his heart.
Li Yan believed that in the future, through this voice, he would definitely be able to find this person. Of course, this was under the condition that he had the strength to reach that realm.
At the same time as the voice transmission sounded, a dark blue, irregular crystal about the size of half a baby's fist and a Jade Slip suddenly appeared in front of the two of them.
The two items appeared silently. The Jade Slip was one thing, but the dark blue crystal the size of half a baby's fist was clearly a water-attribute Spirit Stone .
But when Li Yan swept his Divine Sense over it, to his surprise, he found that he had swept nothing. His Divine Sense was empty, but this object was clearly floating in front of him.
Li Yan did not believe it and released his Divine Sense again. To his astonishment, his Divine Sense was still empty.
"This... this... this is Senior Qian Fangshu's 'Exquisite Annihilation'!"
Wei Zhongran's somewhat surprised voice answered some of Li Yan's doubts, but he still did not know the specifics of this object.
"Your horizons are truly broad. In the cultivation world, even if someone is lucky enough to know of the existence of this object, the number of people who can truly see it can be counted on one's fingers! Since you know the origin of this magical treasure, I assume I don't need to explain it to you further. Later, your disciple will take it with him. Li Yan, do not do anything to this object. Just drive it deep into the earth within the altar's defensive formation. As for the matter of you needing our cooperation that you mentioned just now, I will arrange it with the other few people. Also, that Jade Slip contains a map of the location of that valley. Remember, if you cannot complete it by dawn tomorrow, many of our plans will be delayed as a result, and the consequences will be very serious. However, kid, I believe you can do it!"
The resonant voice once again sounded in the minds of the two. Especially the last two sentences, which already indicated the seriousness of failing to complete this mission.
Although there were no threatening words to Li Yan, Li Yan and Wei Zhongran clearly felt a bone-chilling cold coming from the words.
Li Yan was extremely uncomfortable with this. He was not some powerful cultivator, yet now the responsibility for this matter was being pushed onto him so unreasonably.
But for a time, he did not dare to refute. Wei Zhongran , on the other hand, raised his eyebrows and was about to speak up to shirk the responsibility for Li Yan. But after this sentence ended, all sound came to an abrupt halt, and not even the slightest trace of a presence could be felt.
The tempers of the Nascent Soul old monsters were strange. It was commonplace for them to say one thing and do another, and their attitudes were even more unpredictable. It was not strange for them to come and go as they pleased.
To act as they pleased, and for the cultivators below to have to obey what they said, was a matter of course in their minds.
Wei Zhongran could only sigh. This old monster clearly did not want to hear any other reasons.
Subsequently, Wei Zhongran reached out his hand towards the empty space in front of him and pulled the "Exquisite Annihilation," which was rippling with a dark blue light, into his hand.
Seeing this, Li Yan simply asked directly.
"Master, is this magical treasure really that powerful?"
He was actually just throwing out a line, which was tantamount to nonsense. If this thing wasn't powerful, the Nascent Soul cultivators wouldn't have given it to them to destroy another magical treasure, let alone say what they had said.
Hearing this, Wei Zhongran withdrew the Divine Sense he had been inspecting. His Divine Sense had probed into the magical treasure, but he could not sense the slightest bit of Spiritual Energy . There was only a faint aura that made his heart palpitate and tremble.
Wei Zhongran did not know if it was because he knew the origin of this object that he had this feeling, or if he had truly sensed it.
"'Exquisite Annihilation' is a top-grade magical treasure in this mortal realm. It was refined by the late-stage Nascent Soul Great Cultivator, Senior Qian Fangshu. This object is said to have the great divine power of a combined strike from two to three initial-stage Nascent Soul cultivators. Note that this does not mean that this magical treasure will reach the power of a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. But this is already extremely horrifying. All the people and things in that valley's formation will basically die. But the formation is dead, and people are alive. This is also why, even with this object in hand, the Nascent Soul seniors are still not confident of instantly restraining or killing that Nascent Soul-grade Demonic General. As long as the other party senses that the situation is not good, their instantaneous movement speed will definitely exceed the speed of the magical treasure's explosion. Speaking of which, I'll tell you one more thing. It is said that the cultivation of the Demonic General guarding that valley will definitely not exceed the mid-stage of Demonic General. It should be an initial-stage Nascent Soul Demonic General. In fact, as long as our side has one late-stage Nascent Soul Great Cultivator, for example, if this Senior Qian Fangshu were to make a move personally, an initial-stage and mid-stage Nascent Soul would be as fragile as a thin sheet of paper in front of him. Their life or death could be decided with a single thought. It's just that if our side were to have a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator make a move now, then it would definitely attract the other party's Spirit Transformation cultivators. In that case, the great battle between the two sides would unfold in an instant. Our side still has some plans that are not yet ready, so we cannot do this."
After hearing these, Li Yan immediately nodded. As a disciple of one of the Four Great Sects , especially a disciple of Little Bamboo Peak , he could read many relatively confidential ancient texts.
Even if he did not have this authority, Wei Zhongran would sometimes have Li Wuyi or others bring them for him to read, to enhance his disciple's knowledge.
Late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators had already had a certain level of contact with the five elements and the laws of heaven and earth, and even a kind of mutated law. This was completely different from mid-stage or initial-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, and they were called "Great Cultivators" by ordinary cultivators.
Cultivators who could form a Nascent Soul were all those who had comprehended the existence of the most profound laws of heaven and earth, in order to break through the shackles of themselves and the world.
Pseudo-Nascent Soul cultivators, with that flash of spiritual light, desperately tried to capture that illusory power of the laws, wanting to absorb it into their bodies, which would arouse the boundless wrath and killing intent of the laws of heaven and earth.
The laws of heaven and earth had no consciousness, but they had an inviolable instinct. When someone tried to approach and capture them, it would trigger the power of heaven and earth, creating a catastrophe, vowing to kill the cultivator who dared to challenge its authority. This was the so-called Heavenly Tribulation.
The Heavenly Tribulation that appeared during Nascent Soul Formation was on a completely different level from the Core Tribulation that appeared during Core Formation . The power of the Heavenly Tribulation was more than ten times greater than the Core Tribulation.
And the stronger the Golden Core cultivator forming the Nascent Soul , the more laws of heaven and earth they would sense, and the more ferocious the power of the Heavenly Tribulation that wanted to kill them would be. So the size of the Heavenly Tribulation varied from person to person.