"This is a difference between our races. Fellow Daoist Zhang need not be so self-deprecating. For us cultivators, our own comprehension of the heavens, the earth, and ourselves is what's most important, hehehe..." the cultivator surnamed Chu said, offering a casual word of comfort with a smile, though in his heart, he was still proud to be a cultivator of the Demon Clan.
"From what you say, Fellow Daoist Zhang, could it be that you've encountered an even stronger human Body Cultivator? As far as I know, on the Forsaken Continent, the more famous human Body Cultivators are all from the Buddhist Sect. Their Vajra Arhat Body is truly impressive, but other outstanding human Body Cultivators are a rare sight indeed."
Upon hearing this, Li Yan seemed to drift into a moment of recollection. Then, he nodded, and then shook his head.
This expression left Cultivator Chu stunned, not understanding his meaning, but Li Yan quickly explained.
"During an expedition once, I did indeed encounter a human Body Cultivator who was quite terrifying. But he was not from the Buddhist Sect, and his cultivation was comparable to mine. I, too, considered my own refining arts to be decent, but when we fought, he sent me flying and coughing up blood with just three consecutive strikes. Afterward, out of consideration for our shared human heritage, he did not kill me. His attacks were incredibly sharp, a memory that remains fresh in my mind."
"Did you learn what kind of constitution he had afterward, Fellow Daoist Zhang?" Cultivator Chu asked casually, nodding slightly. Since the conversation had come to this point, he just went along with it.
The bloodline of the human race could only be considered mid-to-low tier in the cultivation world. Zhang Ming's body refining art was already quite strong; to happen upon an opponent stronger than him was truly a stroke of bad luck. To be defeated by a peer in just three strikes must have been a considerable blow to him.
"Oh, I did speculate about it afterward based on our fight. The body refining method that person cultivated wasn't one of the top-tier ones, but the Spirit Power in his body was exceptionally pure. After thinking back on it carefully, I feel it was very similar to the legendary 'Ice Soul Blue Jade Body.' I estimate he has that type of bloodline!"
"Oh, then it's no wonder. It's not surprising you encountered an Ice Soul... Ice... what... what did you just say?"
Cultivator Chu picked up his teacup and gently blew on the floating green tea leaves, carrying on the conversation unhurriedly. But he had only spoken half a sentence when he suddenly froze.
Following that, a strange light flashed in his eyes. His tone tightened as he quickly and uncertainly pressed for an answer.
Seeing his reaction, Li Yan also showed a look of bewilderment.
"What is it, Fellow Daoist Chu? I was saying that I once encountered..."
"No, what did you say that person's constitution was?"
"This... I deduced it was likely the 'Ice Soul Blue Jade Body.' Is there a problem?"
Upon hearing this, a glint of sharp light flashed deep in Cultivator Chu's eyes, but he quickly concealed it. However, it was caught by Li Yan, who had been watching him intently.
Li Yan's face maintained its expression of confusion.
"Oh, cultivators with this constitution are extremely rare. To think that someone among your human race possesses such a constitution is truly surprising. By the way, was that person male or female, and where and when did you encounter them, Fellow Daoist?"
Cultivator Chu placed the teacup on the table and gently spun it. His tone had returned to calm, and he seemed to casually glance at Li Yan through the wisping steam.
But Li Yan clearly saw that his knuckles had turned somewhat white, and the speed at which the teacup spun was a little faster.
"Fellow Daoist Chu, your pressing questions... could it be that you have also met this person? You don't hold a grudge against him, do you? I met him twenty-one years ago, four hundred li south of Linshui City. He was a young man who looked to be in his early twenties."
As Li Yan answered, an even deeper look of confusion appeared on his face.
This was a reasonable reaction. Although Cultivator Chu had tried to hide it, his tone had been abnormal earlier. Logically, he should be suspicious.
"Twenty-one years ago, a male cultivator, four hundred li south of Linshui City?" Cultivator Chu did not answer Li Yan's question, but instead confirmed it with him again. The Linshui City Li Yan mentioned was three hundred thousand li east of Sacred Demon City.
"Yes, is there a problem?"
Cultivator Chu shook his head and didn't answer immediately. After hesitating for a moment, he continued to ask, "Has Fellow Daoist Zhang mentioned this matter to anyone else?"
"Of course. I mentioned it to my Master after returning to the sect. Fellow Daoist Chu, what is...?"
By this point, a hint of displeasure had crept into Li Yan's tone. Cultivator Chu immediately realized that his subsequent words had taken on a tone of interrogation.
The other party was a cultivator of the same realm. Although his sect's status was lower, his cultivation was there for all to see. To keep questioning him without giving a reason was already a sign of disrespect.
Hearing that the other party had only told his Master about this, he couldn't help but feel a sense of relief. Since he wanted to find out some information, he naturally had to reveal a little.
"Oh, please forgive me, Fellow Daoist Zhang. It's like this: my Master has a cultivation method that requires a person with a special constitution to practice, and the 'Ice Soul Blue Jade Body' you mentioned is one of them. A male is best. My Master has always been looking for a suitable disciple to inherit this art, but to no avail. Thus, upon hearing your earlier words, I couldn't help but ask anxiously. It was truly impolite of me. Oh, Fellow Daoist Zhang, could you perhaps describe the process of your fight in detail, and on what basis did you deduce that he has the 'Ice Soul Blue Jade Body'? Also, I wonder if Fellow Daoist Zhang could agree not to mention this to anyone else. A person with this constitution might not necessarily be suited to cultivating other methods. I, Chu, will remember this favor!"
Cultivator Chu's words were extremely earnest. For someone of his status to say such a thing was already quite something.
As long as Zhang Ming wasn't a fool, he would naturally know that in the future, at least in the trade of medicinal pills, the other party would grant him many conveniences.
A casual word from Cultivator Chu could mean a rolling river of Spirit Stones. Both Falling Star Valley and he personally would profit immensely.
Hearing his final request, a huge wave rose in Li Yan's heart. He forced himself to remain calm.
Then, he "detailed" the course of his fight with that person. Of course, according to Li Yan, they had only exchanged three blows, so there wasn't much to say.
But Cultivator Chu still asked a few questions. After Li Yan answered, Cultivator Chu had already made a judgment in his heart.
'A faint blue light accompanied every strike. This is very similar to the 'Ice Soul Blue Jade Body,' but the possibility of a water-attribute spirit root cannot be ruled out. And the Spirit Power was pure and immensely powerful, which fits the requirements of a Saint Spirit Root. But these two points combined are likely not so simple...'
Afterward, the two chatted for a few more sentences. Seeing the other party's absent-minded look, Li Yan tactfully took his leave.
Just after Li Yan left, Cultivator Chu also departed immediately, flying towards a direction deep within the palace. He had to tell his Master about this as soon as possible.
The benefits Shanggong Changge had received had made his own Master grumble for a long time. Even now, every time he saw Shanggong Changge, his Master would sigh in his heart, hating that he didn't have such an opportunity.
'A male cultivator, with an ordinary appearance... that's definitely not Zhao Min. Especially since the timing doesn't match up. Zhao Min seems to have entered the palace about twenty-five years ago. But why has this constitution now appeared in a human cultivator...' Cultivator Chu thought to himself. Although there were some things he couldn't figure out, a smile still appeared on his face.
Even if it was like looking for a needle in a haystack, this matter was enough to show that the "Ice Soul Blue Jade Body" still existed on the Forsaken Continent...
But the final result was far beyond Cultivator Chu's expectations. The search went on year after year, place after place...
And the instigator of all this, Li Yan, left with an equally turbulent heart. He was basically certain of Zhao Min's location.
Looking calm and composed, Li Yan returned to the shop. After handing the storage pouch filled with Spirit Stones to Su Yuan, he walked straight towards the pavilion in the back.
Once inside the room, he immediately closed the door, activated the formation restriction, and locked himself inside.
'There's an over eighty percent chance my Senior Sister is within the Sacred Demon Palace. The one who took her away back then was a Nascent Soul from the Demon Clan.'
Sitting at the table, a long-lost, genuine smile appeared on Li Yan's face.
When he was trying to find ways to contact the Sacred Demon Palace, he was already calculating how he could find out news about Zhao Min.
After much thought, the most important point was not to attract the attention of Nascent Soul cultivators.
But he could be certain that if he could get in touch with a Golden Core cultivator in the Sacred Demon Palace, that person should know of someone like Zhao Min.
A person brought into the palace by a Nascent Soul cultivator would have a very high seniority.
And Li Yan's final entry point was based on his initial judgment.
Zhao Min was taken as a disciple by a Nascent Soul cultivator, and that person was a female Nascent Soul. The possibility of her coveting Zhao Min's beauty was low.
And Zhao Min's spirit root was not particularly good, only considered mid-to-high tier. He was aware of this.
Furthermore, Zhao Min was human. Without a special reason, she would not have been accepted into the sect.
After considering for a while, Li Yan determined that all of this should be related to what the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant had said about the "Ice Soul Blue Jade Body."
Back in the barrier between the two realms, the Little Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant had mentioned that Zhao Min's constitution was special.
So, after currying favor with Cultivator Chu, he had intentionally or unintentionally steered their conversations on the Dao towards body refining cultivation.
By creating a "common ground" with the other party, he would make them feel a sense of goodwill, and their guard against him would slowly be lowered.
And today, Li Yan had finally "unintentionally" spoken of that "chance encounter" during his expedition.
At that moment, Li Yan had used his powerful Divine Sense to firmly lock onto the other party's every move.
Sure enough, when he said that the person he encountered might possess the "Ice Soul Blue Jade Body," Cultivator Chu had shown a trace of abnormality from the very beginning, his aura fluctuating like never before.
In the end, Li Yan did not let up. Feigning dissatisfaction, he finally forced the other party to admit that the "Ice Soul Blue Jade Body" was very suitable for cultivating a certain type of Demon Clan cultivation method.
Especially when the other party asked whether the person Li Yan met was male or female, Li Yan became even more certain. This showed that the other party was afraid that the person he had met was the same one who was currently in the Sacred Demon Palace.
Afterward, Li Yan deliberately pushed back the time of his encounter with that non-existent person by several years, to diverge from the time he had separated from Zhao Min.
Cultivator Chu's expression clearly became more agitated. As for his talk about finding an inheritor for his master, and that a male disciple was more suitable, Li Yan simply ignored it all.
Li Yan's mind was in turmoil as he replayed today's events over and over in his mind. After a long while, he finally let out a long breath.
Slowly calming the turmoil in his heart, Li Yan immediately fell into the next unsolvable problem: how to meet Zhao Min.
More accurately, how could he let Zhao Min know that he had also come to Sacred Demon City? He couldn't just search for her section by section deep inside the Sacred Demon Palace.
But as long as Zhao Min wasn't under house arrest, she would have opportunities to come out. Yet he had been in Sacred Demon City for half a year now, and there had been no reaction from her at all.
Although Li Yan didn't know Gu arts, he was aware of the situation with the Heart-Entangling Twin Gu, because this Gu-insect was very famous.
As the one who refined it, Zhao Min could use an art to sense the approximate location of the other Gu-insect. And the closer they were, the clearer the sensed location would be.
Li Yan was the recipient of the art; he could only passively wait to be sensed and could not control the Gu-insect.
There was an important premise here: only when Zhao Min actively cast the art could she sense that Li Yan was here.