The force of that impact was incredibly immense, causing the entire secret underground chamber to shake ceaselessly. Bai Yihe nearly passed out. Fortunately, although he had lost his magical power, the physical body of a Nascent Soul cultivator was unimaginably resilient. Coupled with the fact that Shuang Fengyan had no intention of killing him, he was spared immediate death, but blood was already gushing from his mouth.
"Bai Yihe, if you speak any more nonsense, I will show you what it means to wish for death!" Shuang Fengyan's face was a mask of icy coldness. In terms of age, Shuang Qingqing was an old monster who was countless generations his senior. For Bai Yihe to dare utter such treasonous words was unacceptable. He had also acted to save Bai Yihe, because the killing intent emanating from Shuang Qingqing beside him had suddenly surged. He had no choice but to act first.
"Considering you did not know that Bai Fengtian was the true murderer back then, you may keep your life. But you are no longer fit to show your face or serve as an elder. Just stay here and wait to ascend to the Immortal Spirit Realm with me. If we are lucky enough to ascend, you might still have a chance of survival in the Upper Realm. Otherwise, you shall perish with me in the Chaotic Flow Space."
After Shuang Fengyan finished speaking again, he used his magical power, pulling the murderously seething Shuang Qingqing and the Third Elder with him as they vanished into thin air, leaving only Bai Yihe, coughing incessantly and letting out intermittent roars of fury!
...
In the new Cave Residence opened up by Shuang Qingqing, Bai Rou served tea and then stood behind her. At this moment, a spiritual light had returned to her eyes, although she still maintained a delicate and frail demeanor.
Li Yan nodded at Bai Rou with a smile. Bai Rou also gave a slight nod to Li Yan and the other person before lowering her head again. Zhao Min, as usual, remained silent.
Over the past few days, Bai Rou's mood had brightened, returning to its former state. With Shuang Qingqing's matter resolved, her worries were finally gone, and a faint smile appeared on her face.
"Since you two want to search for the 'Howling Cold Stone,' it's a good opportunity for Bai Rou to study more in the clan for a while. When the time comes, I will escort you back to the Desolate Moon Continent!"
"Many thanks, Senior Shuang. But will that affect your ascension to the Immortal Spirit Realm?" Li Yan was overjoyed.
Since Shuang Wuyan and the others' identities were confirmed that day, they had reverted to the "Shuang" (雙) surname, and Shuang Qingqing's matter was naturally resolved. For Shuang Qingqing, Shuang Fengyan, and Shuang Wuyan's factions, this turn of events was undoubtedly somewhat bizarre. Everything was tied together because of Li Yan.
As a result, Li Yan and Zhao Min also earned a favor from Shuang Fengyan, a promise similar to the one from the Giant Wood Clan and the other six clans. Whenever they needed help, Shuang Fengyan would assist them as much as possible. However, Li Yan knew that this favor would most likely go unused. He was finally leaving this continent.
After that, Li Yan and his companions could no longer participate in the internal affairs of the Tianli Clan.
After some discussion with Shuang Qingqing, and with her consent, Shuang Fengyan made the final decision. The Bai lineage had reached a point where it could not be casually slaughtered. This was very similar to the Giant Wood Clan and the others; the clan was a tangled web of intermarriages, inheritances, and countless other ties. This entire incident was caused by Bai Fengtian. Even the ancestor back then hadn't discovered the truth, let alone the current members of the Bai lineage. It was even possible that Bai Yihe himself was kept in the dark.
Therefore, they had to confirm things further immediately. The first step, of course, was to capture Bai Yihe.
Soon, Bai Yihe was summoned by Shuang Fengyan. He had absolutely no guard up against Shuang Fengyan. The gap between a Late-stage and Mid-stage Nascent Soul was like a chasm. Completely unprepared, Bai Yihe was imprisoned by Shuang Fengyan in an instant. Subsequently, a Soul-Search was performed on him.
The result was as Shuang Fengyan had guessed. Bai Yihe was only acting on the last words left by his ancestor regarding Shuang Qingqing's descendants. If anyone returned to the clan, they must be killed to avenge the past. There was not much other information about Bai Fengtian.
After these things were done, only Meng Shangmo, Shuiyue, and Chongfeng knew about the Tianli Clan's affairs. Meng Shangmo didn't count; that old ghost was shrewder than anyone. As for Shuiyue and Chongfeng, Shuang Fengyan had personally made a trip to see them. No one knew what was said in the end. Matters concerning other clans were not something Nascent Soul old monsters would typically care about. They would only think about how to ascend as soon as possible.
Shuang Fengyan himself should have ascended to the Immortal Spirit Realm long ago. Now that this matter was settled, he naturally planned to leave the Lower Realm. However, this time he would take Bai Yihe with him. Firstly, to give the ancestors an explanation, and secondly, he could not leave Bai Yihe to continue staying in the Lower Realm.
After hearing this, Shuang Qingqing immediately expressed that she also planned to leave the Lower Realm. Her worries were resolved, and her next step was to pursue her own immortal path. Thus, it was finally decided that the Third Elder would continue to stay in the Lower Realm to protect the clansmen, while the three of them would ascend.
As for the members of the Bai lineage, all the mid-level cultivators would be soul-searched again. If any problems were found, they would be dealt with individually. If there were no problems, all their memories of Shuang Qingqing would be erased, and some of their memories would be altered.
The Bai lineage now had more than seven hundred people, and the other branch clansmen added up to more than one thousand four hundred. Performing such a large-scale technique was extremely difficult. It was just that for these one thousand four hundred people, there was no need for another Soul-Search; it was enough to just erase and alter their memories.
If this task were left to Li Yan and his companions, they might not be able to complete it even if they worked themselves to death for several months. Not only would their Divine Sense be severely overdrawn, but their own Seas of Consciousness would also be damaged. But with three Nascent Soul cultivators acting simultaneously, this matter became very simple. They only spent several hours not only soul-searching all the mid-level cultivators of the Bai lineage but also modifying some of their memories. Unless these people's own cultivation reached the Spirit Transformation stage or above one day, only then might they gradually recover their memories and slowly remember the scene that once happened.
Thus, when these clansmen saw Shuang Qingqing and her group the next day, they did not realize that they were completely different from a few days ago, and they enthusiastically greeted the clan's Elder Shuang and her disciples.
The restriction on Shuang Qingqing had also been removed. So after settling Shuang Wuyan and the others, she proposed to send Li Yan and his group away from the Verdant Continent. This was also her repayment to Li Yan. After she returned, she would ascend to the Immortal Spirit Realm. Therefore, it was no longer suitable for Bai Rou to stay in the Tianli Clan. Besides, she herself wanted to return to the Desolate Moon Continent.
Because Shuang Qingqing's identity was confirmed, and Bai Rou had been inducted into the Tianli Clan, she could forcibly memorize some cultivation methods first, and then slowly comprehend and cultivate them after returning. Shuang Qingqing would seal Bai Rou's memory as needed. When she reached the Golden Core stage, some seals would be broken, and she would see a part of the cultivation method. At the Nascent Soul stage, she would see the final part.
But at this time, Li Yan thought of the news Su Hong had given him. The Snow Mosquito King, Qian Ji, had been stuck at the Foundation Establishment stage for a long time and could hardly help Li Yan anymore. His strength had to be improved as soon as possible. Li Yan then proposed to go and see the "Howling Cold Stone" before leaving. And there might be some news about the Desolate Moon Continent there. Although Shuang Qingqing had promised to send them back, this news was no longer important to the current Li Yan, but there was no harm in knowing a little more.
"Finding a spatial node also takes time. I'll talk to Shuang Fengyan again. If it's as smooth as it was for me and Bai Rou back then, a round trip won't take more than forty years. It should be fine," Shuang Qingqing said with a smile in her eyes.
Li Yan and Zhao Min immediately stood up and bowed deeply to Shuang Qingqing. They knew that taking one person and taking three people were completely different. The chance of death was several times higher, if not more. Shuang Qingqing knew this, but she still insisted on sending them back. Shuang Qingqing's character had always been like this, clear about her gratitude and grievances. Even if she was in extreme danger, she would not change her decision.
However, Li Yan thought to himself that with the "Earthen Patch" on him, if worst came to worst, he would have no choice but to expose that spatial magical treasure to protect himself. He still trusted Shuang Qingqing relatively well. It was just that it was better to keep this secret for now if he could. It involved the matter of the "Five Immortal Sects." If Shuang Qingqing knew about it, once she ascended to the Immortal Spirit Realm in the future, it might not be a good thing for her.
"I've also heard of the 'Hellsoul Clan' secret grotto. Nowadays, one rarely hears that it itself is dangerous. Instead, one has to be careful of the other cultivators who also enter. Most of them will kill for treasure. However, with your usual caution, you should basically be fine. Hmm, exploring inside… plus the travel time, I estimate four months at most should be enough. You can come back then, whether you find anything or not!"
Shuang Qingqing thought for a moment. Although the place Li Yan was going to was dangerous, it was within the range he could handle. With her Mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivation, she had long seen that Li Yan was hiding his strength, but she just didn't want to investigate carefully. However, after giving Li Yan and his companion lectures on the Dao these past few days, she had already roughly known Li Yan's true strength through the aura he emitted during his meditation in the room. What's more, every cultivator had their own Dao path, and it was best for others not to interfere. Cultivators paid the most attention to the will of heaven in the unseen world. As a Nascent Soul cultivator, Shuang Qingqing knew this even more clearly, so she nodded.
"Alright then. Senior Sister Zhao and Junior Sister Bai will stay with Senior Shuang for the time being. I will set off for the 'Hellsoul Clan' underground secret grotto in a moment. The sooner I go, the sooner I return…"
Before Li Yan could finish, Zhao Min's cold voice came from the side.
"There are two tokens for the 'Hellsoul Clan' secret grotto!"
Li Yan's words faltered. He turned to look at Zhao Min. Zhao Min's black-gem-like eyes just stared at him quietly.
Li Yan gave a helpless, bitter smile. He had wanted to let Zhao Min cultivate here for a while. These years on the run had never been peaceful. One bloody storm after another. It was a rare opportunity to have Shuang Qingqing's protection and a period of peace. Unexpectedly, Zhao Min was not willing to stay here at all.
Bai Rou, standing behind Shuang Qingqing, gently raised her beautiful eyes and glanced at Zhao Min, then lowered them again. She also felt that it was not appropriate for Li Yan to go alone, but her strength was low, and she could only think about some things in her heart.
Shuang Qingqing, on the other hand, blinked her eyes, and then a long-unheard silver-bell-like laughter echoed in the courtyard.
"Truly inseparable, hehehe…"
At the same time, her voice also sounded in Bai Rou's mind.
"You need to hurry up and form your core too!"
Bai Rou remained silent, the light in her eyes a little dim. The youth in front of her was getting farther and farther away…
These few days, Li Yan had taken the initiative to chat with her about some things: the Malevolent Spirit Sect, Sun Guoshu, the puppet art, and so on, one thing after another, casually. Although Bai Rou still addressed him as Martial Uncle, Li Yan no longer insisted on changing her words. It was just that every time Li Yan said "Senior Sister Bai," a certain heartstring in Bai Rou's heart would be touched.
The abyss-like aura on Li Yan's body made it impossible for Bai Rou to find the feeling of that little junior brother from the Malevolent Spirit Sect back then. Nor was there the seamless cooperation of slaughtering demons together on Windy Cool Mountain. Memories, in the end, only left behind the recollections of the past…
"Did Li Yan have someone bring this?" In a side room, Su Hong withdrew her Divine Sense from the jade slip in her hand with a strange expression and looked at Mi'er.
"That's right, miss. Someone just delivered this. They said it must be handed over to you. It just so happens that we haven't left yet, so I brought it over immediately."
"Oh!"
Then, a clever light flickered in Su Hong's eyes.