Li Yan didn't know what the people behind him were thinking, but to him, it was just a small interlude that he didn't take to heart at all.
He was different from the vast majority of cultivators. Apart from nearly losing his life to Strategist Ji at the very beginning of his immortal path, he had later enjoyed smooth sailing under the care of his sect.
He was not like Huchen Wuding, whom he had met, with such a checkered fate, nor was he like Ding Yushan, who had to tread on thin ice at all times.
Li Yan had found a good sect, and without realizing it, he had developed the pride of a disciple from a prestigious and powerful house.
Although Li Yan was usually very careful with his words and actions and wouldn't deliberately show this mentality, when faced with some cultivators he believed posed no threat to him, even if their realm was higher than his, he simply wouldn't have the mentality of placing them on a pedestal.
...
Li Yan soon flew to the cave residence on the mountainside of Wei Zhongran's front mountain. Although he encountered two more patrol teams along the way, in every team, there were always a few people who knew him. He was, after all, the disciple of the person in charge of Windy Cool Mountain. Cultivators who knew Li Yan's identity would always introduce the situation here to the new conscripts.
Among these patrol cultivators, some were even quite familiar with Li Yan. After he showed his token and they exchanged a few simple words, they let him go on his way.
The moment Li Yan landed on the platform, he knew he might have come at the wrong time. There was no sign of the protective formation and restriction outside the cave residence being opened.
In the past, the formation restriction would automatically open as soon as Li Yan arrived. Today, it was silent.
After standing for a moment, Li Yan still sent a voice transmission to the cave residence a few times. The result, of course, was no response.
'Is Master still outside fighting and hasn't returned? Or has he gone to discuss matters with other elders?'
Li Yan didn't have many clues for the moment. He could only pat his head and silently call himself "careless."
Although he hadn't been able to ask the whiskered Golden Core cultivator just now, he should have asked the other people he met on the way.
But just now, he had been focused on coming over to ask in person, so he had hastily taken his leave of the patrol cultivators. And those cultivators, assuming he already knew, would not dare to take the initiative to bring up a Golden Core's affairs.
After thinking for a moment, Li Yan decided not to return to his own cave residence first. He would go to the "Green Bat Battalion" to have a look. He thought that Gong Yuantai and the others might be in the camp. That way, when he asked about things, he wouldn't come up empty-handed.
Having made his decision, Li Yan's figure flickered, turning into a wisp of gray light that shot into the sky.
When Li Yan was about to reach the mountain peak of the "Green Bat Battalion," he couldn't help but be stunned. The usually quiet mountain peak was now abnormally bustling.
In the past, due to the intense battles, the mountain peak where the "Green Bat Battalion" was located was only occupied by newly conscripted cultivators and depleted teams that had retreated from the front to recuperate.
But as Li Yan approached the mountain, he saw from afar that from time to time, streaks of light would shoot up from the mountain peak into the sky.
And in the distance, some lights would streak across the sky, and after approaching, they would land on the mountain peak one after another. Then, cultivators would walk towards the main hall.
The arriving Li Yan instantly became one of them. Looking at the vast majority of unfamiliar faces, Li Yan was filled with questions.
Because among the coming and going lights, there were some people whom Li Yan, although not very familiar with, had met once, or even several times.
If Li Yan remembered correctly, the origins of these cultivators were from different places in Windy Cool Mountain. There were those from the "Green Bat Battalion" itself, as well as cultivators from the "Earth Battalion," "Heavenly Craft Battalion," and "Heavy Peak Battalion."
"What's going on here?"
Li Yan landed in front of the main hall, looked around, and was puzzled for a moment.
Some people who knew him, upon seeing the landing Li Yan, smiled and nodded at him in greeting.
When they looked at Li Yan, their eyes held surprise, and even awe.
There were also some who looked Li Yan up and down several times. Being constantly scanned by people made Li Yan feel extremely uncomfortable.
But he was usually a low-key person in Windy Cool Mountain. His face still held a smile as he nodded and exchanged pleasantries with others.
Under such circumstances, he didn't want to delay any longer at the front. More and more questions were piling up in his mind. It was better to find someone he knew to ask for clarification.
After returning the greetings of a few people, Li Yan went straight through the main hall and walked towards the "Green Quake Sixteen" courtyard at the back.
Looking at the familiar yet somewhat strange bluestone path beneath his feet, Li Yan felt a deep sense of warmth in his heart.
Just a few days ago, they had set off from here, experiencing a journey of death with a team of people.
And then he himself had almost died outside while on a solo mission. After making a large detour, he had finally returned here.
Li Yan was filled with emotion. A few days' time felt like a lifetime ago.
The long courtyard wall on the side of the road stretched into the distance. The occasional doorplates that flashed by gave Li Yan a sense of peace.
This place, though separated from the devastation outside the grand formation by only an invisible barrier in the sky, was already two completely different worlds.
When Li Yan pushed open the ajar gate of "Green Quake Sixteen," there were sixty or seventy people in the courtyard, divided into clusters of various sizes, talking in low voices.
Li Yan's arrival did not attract anyone's attention at first. It seemed that cultivators coming and going here had been a common occurrence in recent days.
But soon, someone noticed Li Yan. That person was first stunned, then his face showed surprise, and he called out hesitantly.
"Fellow Daoist... Cap... Captain!"
The person's voice was loud. Although there were many cultivators here, they were all talking in low voices, so it was relatively quiet. This shout instantly attracted everyone's attention.
Li Yan glanced at that person. He was gathered with six or seven others. Their group was very close to the courtyard gate.
This person was facing the gate, so as Li Yan approached, he naturally looked up at the newcomer.
His expression was first one of shock, then he stared intently at Li Yan. After confirming that he hadn't seen wrong, he had called out uncertainly.
From his tone, it seemed he still couldn't be sure it was Li Yan who had appeared.
A cultivator's memory is very strong. Especially since Li Yan was the captain of the "Sixteenth Squad of Green," he needed to know his team members like the back of his hand.
Therefore, Li Yan knew his name was Tao Yishan, a cultivator from a bottom-tier small sect within the jurisdiction of the Ten-Pace Courtyard.
This person's cultivation was only average. It was unexpected that he had not died in the tragic battle a few days ago, and from the looks of it, he probably didn't even have any serious injuries.
This thought, after Li Yan recalled Tao Yishan's origins, was still somewhat surprising to him.
As Tao Yishan's shout came out, a series of voices, either surprised, disbelieving, or calm, rang out in the courtyard.
"It's really the Captain! He's back!"
"Hehehe, Fellow Daoist Li has only returned at this time. It made us quite worried!"
"Oh, so it really is Junior Brother Li..."
"He's that Li Yan?"
"Is he the one who killed more than ten demonic cultivators of the same rank?"
"Junior... Junior Brother Li, when did you get back..."
...
For a time, the originally quiet courtyard was suddenly filled with voices rising and falling. And among these voices, Li Yan actually heard the voices of Du Sanjiang and Bai Rou.
This made him look in their direction, and he was truly stunned for a moment. This was the "Green Bat Battalion," after all.
But he immediately returned to normal, a smile on his face as he swept his gaze over the crowd. He first cupped his hands towards Tao Yishan and the others.
"I just got back, so I came over. I still have some matters to understand first. I'll catch up with all of you fellow Daoists later. Forgive me for now!"
As Li Yan spoke, he lowered his hands and walked towards a group of people in a corner of the courtyard.
There were Gong Yuantai, Tantai Dongyue, Bai Rou, Du Sanjiang, Bu Luo, Wuye, and about fifteen or sixteen other cultivators.
Most of them were wearing the dark green robes of the Malevolent Spirit Sect. Only a group of seven, including Bu Luo and Wuye, were cultivators from other sects, but their cultivation was basically at the Late-stage Foundation Establishment or above.
This was the strongest group of cultivators in the courtyard.
Among the dozen or so cultivators, several women were particularly eye-catching. Besides Bai Rou and Tantai Dongyue, the other three women were also beautiful.
Two were wearing the robes of the Malevolent Spirit Sect, while the other was in a pink palace dress. The three of them looked to be in their early twenties, though of course, this was just their apparent age.
As Li Yan walked towards Gong Yuantai's group, the people he passed also returned his greeting one by one. Then the courtyard gradually quieted down again, but the atmosphere was clearly different from before.
Many people's gazes were still fixed on him, but their words became extremely low and short, as they were quickly exchanging information with the people beside them.
Even if Li Yan didn't deliberately listen, some scattered words still clearly entered his ears.
"Did he really kill more than a dozen demonic cultivators, and in just a few dozen breaths? Looking at his cultivation, he seems to have just reached the Pseudo-Core realm..."
"Exactly. We've fought demonic cultivators too. It takes one or two of us working together to hold off one of them. I still don't quite believe what you're saying..."
"Hehehe, I'll stick to what I said. Is it possible that your Sixteenth Squad of Green suffered heavy casualties after defending 'Mutual Destruction Ridge' for half a day, so you're piling the merit onto him to divert some of our attention..."
"Bullshit! What good does it do our reputation to pile all the merit onto him?"
"We suffered heavy casualties? It wasn't our fault. Now that everyone knows about the enemy's high-power magical treasure, whoever goes up there will face the same result of collapse."
"After the grand formation was destroyed, to be able to fight against an enemy twice our number, led by demonic cultivators, with only a hundred people, and still win in the end, I estimate very few in this Windy Cool Mountain could have done that."
"These past few days, you've all come and gone from here so many times, wasn't it just to confirm this news?"
"To be able to kill so many demonic cultivators of the same rank by himself, it really does make you feel unbalanced every day, hehehe..."
As these words entered his ears, Li Yan's mind raced, and he had already thought of some things. It seemed some people had come because of the great battle at "Mutual Destruction Ridge" a few days ago.
And just as he was striding forward, pondering these things, Bu Luo had already stood up with a "hehe" sound.
"Brother Li, you're finally back! I thought you had already left this place. Come over here, quickly!"
The large hole on Bu Luo's face was gone now. With his family background, the Zuo family's medicinal pills should have had no trouble with such a flesh wound.
The way he stood up to greet him did not surprise Li Yan. In the great battle a few days ago, the moment the enemy's Golden Core Demon Lord appeared, he was the only one who had sent a voice transmission to Li Yan, telling him to flee quickly.
To still be able to think of others at a time like that, even if it was just one sentence, it showed a certain degree of camaraderie. Li Yan's impression of Bu Luo had grown much warmer.
Li Yan stopped thinking about the meaning behind those people's words and walked quickly towards the group where Bu Luo was, a smile on his face.
As he approached, this group naturally stopped talking and all watched the fast-approaching Li Yan.