Su Hong was supposed to have gone to another branch of her business a few days ago, but she had not left immediately, instead staying temporarily in this market. She had also come to the Verdant Continent for training, but her training was different from that of ordinary cultivators. It was not about slaughtering all day, but about familiarizing herself with more aspects of the business.
Since Shuang Qingqing had left that day, out of a long-term habit, Su Hong had immediately sent people to secretly watch the Tianli Clan. Later, after spending some money, she had also obtained some information from the mouths of the Tianli Clan members, but it wasn't very useful, especially regarding the Nascent Soul cultivators. Without using high-level cultivators, she couldn't get much information about high-level cultivators. To probe the whereabouts and news of a Great Cultivator would require approval from the clan's upper echelons. "Gui Qu Lai Xi" was just a merchant alliance and would not rashly offend a relatively strong force.
The news Su Hong finally got was that the Great Elder, Shuang Fengyan, had already returned to the clan. And it was said that after Shuang Fengyan met with Shuang Qingqing once, he had actually given her a cultivation area full of Spiritual Energy, and then nothing else had happened.
'So strange. Why was that Shuang Qingqing inquiring about Shuang Fengyan? At that time, she even wanted to hire Nascent Soul stage cultivators to fight someone. None of this makes sense. That brat Li Yan sent a jade slip saying that it is enough to send the news of his and Zhao Min's safety back to the Desolate Moon Continent. There is no need for Wei Zhongran to send people to find them. They will return on their own. This means they must have a way back, and a very certain one at that. Could it be that Shuang Fengyan or Shuang Qingqing will escort them back? Who was that Shuang Qingqing going to deal with before, and how did Li Yan and Zhao Min get to know Shuang Fengyan? What is going on…'
For a moment, Su Hong had a headache and soon fell into deep thought!
Although she could find out some news, this time it involved Nascent Soul cultivators, and ordinary scouts could not be so detailed. This required Su Hong to use the most common method of judgment, which was to inquire from multiple sources, and then analyze the results from all aspects. This process was the most headache-inducing. And the news she had gathered this time was all based on things after Shuang Fengyan had altered the clansmen's memories. Even if she spent more Spirit Stones, it would only make her more unable to sort things out!
In the far west of the Verdant Continent, great canyons stretched across the land, with crisscrossing ravines and steep mountains. The mountains were mostly covered with short, black and gray vegetation. Looking down from the sky, they looked like giant black monsters, some standing, some crouching, towering between heaven and earth.
On this day, a streak of light streaked across the sky and descended into a large canyon below. When the light subsided, two people were revealed. Li Yan and Zhao Min stepped down from the "Cloud-Piercing Willow." The "Cloud-Piercing Willow" automatically turned into a streak of green light and flew into Li Yan's waist.
"There really aren't too many cultivators around here!"
Zhao Min withdrew her Divine Sense. They had flown for almost a month from the southern end of the Verdant Continent to get here. During this month, they had not rested, traveling day and night. After confirming the time with Shuang Qingqing, they were thinking of returning to the Tianli Clan in about three months, so they could return to the Desolate Moon Continent ahead of schedule.
At this time, Li Yan had reverted to the appearance of an Initial-stage Golden Core cultivator, and Zhao Min's cultivation was also concealed to the Mid-stage Golden Core. Although the magical power in her body was not yet flowing smoothly, as long as the other party was not much higher than her, it was already difficult to judge her true cultivation.
"In the last seven or eight days, we would only occasionally encounter one or two cultivators after flying for half a day. Most of those who come to the far west are here for the 'Hellsoul Clan' underground secret grotto. According to Su Hong, the token to enter the underground secret grotto costs ten thousand low-grade Spirit Stones. Not all cultivators are willing to be ripped off. After all, this place has been open to the public for too many years. The most likely outcome of going in is to return empty-handed, a complete waste!"
Li Yan looked down at a small path leading down into the canyon. On both sides of the small path, clumps of shrubs grew like dark green hedgehogs, spreading and clinging to the mountain slopes on both sides. At the end of the small path, about fifty zhang below them, there was a dark cave entrance, like the giant mouth of a monster waiting for its prey.
As the two spoke, their figures did not stop. They floated forward quickly, almost without their feet touching the ground. A bone-chilling cold air emanated from the dark cave entrance. Although the cave looked pitch black, this was no obstacle for Li Yan and Zhao Min. Even without using their Divine Sense, they could clearly see everything within a hundred zhang just with their eyesight.
The cave was full of strange-shaped rocks. In some places, it was so narrow that only one person could pass. If an ordinary mortal were to walk through it, a single misstep could lead to them being hit by the protruding strange rocks in the cave, resulting in a bloody head.
The two quickly "plunged" into the dark cave entrance. After walking down for about ten li in the dark cave, a patch of bright yellow light suddenly appeared before their eyes, illuminating the surroundings. It was a bright yellow light shield about ten zhang in size. Yellow Spiritual Energy flowed unstably on the surface of the light shield, like schools of fish swimming back and forth.
"A formation restriction!"
Li Yan and Zhao Min looked at each other. The tokens Su Hong had given them back then were not the only thing; there was also a jade slip attached. The jade slip recorded how to enter the "Hellsoul Clan" secret grotto, as well as some things to pay attention to.
Just as Li Yan and the other person approached the bright yellow light shield, a cold voice suddenly came from ahead. The voice was very ethereal, making it difficult to sense where it came from.
"Show your entry tokens, or hand over twenty thousand low-grade Spirit Stones. Otherwise, go back where you came from. You shall not advance another step!"
The voice echoed in the cave, but Li Yan and Zhao Min's Divine Sense did not find the person who spoke at all.
"He's inside the formation restriction!"
Li Yan transmitted his voice to Zhao Min. He knew that Zhao Min had developed a habit. As long as she was with him, even if her Divine Sense had detected a target, she would wait for him to confirm it one last time.
Li Yan and Zhao Min didn't say anything. With a flash of green light in their hands, a token appeared in each of their hands. And just at this moment, the expressions on Li Yan's and Zhao Min's faces both moved. They immediately turned around at the same time and looked at the path they had just come from. The Spirit Power around their bodies also faintly fluctuated.
About ten breaths later, a series of sounds of breaking through the air came from within the cave. Then, a somewhat bewitching voice came over.
"As expected, they are also Golden Core cultivators!"
Li Yan and his companion had actually already sensed the other party. Even when not in a fight, a cultivator's Divine Sense would usually protect an area of about a thousand zhang around them. This distance was usually enough to allow them to react in a crisis and to detect the surrounding situation in advance. Just now, both sides had sensed each other's existence and had vaguely guessed that the other party were both Golden Core cultivators. So they had not further scanned the other party with their Divine Sense, as that might cause unnecessary misunderstandings. Now that the distance was getting closer, the aura emitted by the protective Spirit Power around both sides was very obvious, and the sensation was getting clearer.
"Hmm? Why is it him!"
Zhao Min's somewhat surprised voice suddenly came from Li Yan's mind. And just at this moment, five figures rapidly descended from above and immediately stopped when they were more than a hundred zhang away from Li Yan and Zhao Min. This distance was actually already very dangerous for both sides. The cave was winding, so these people could only stop after turning the last corner.
"Why is it you?"
Among the five newcomers, a gloomy voice suddenly sounded.
Li Yan looked calmly at the five people. There were old and young, four men and one woman. At the very front was a woman dressed very revealingly, about thirty years old, at the most charming age for a woman. A tight-fitting sleeveless tunic clung tightly to her curvaceous body, revealing a large expanse of snowy peaks. Her lotus-root-like arms and the parts of her long legs below the thighs were all exposed.
Because the corner of the cave was not wide, they still maintained some distance from each other, forming a single-file formation. Behind the woman was a thin, dark, and withered old Daoist. Further back was a short person completely shrouded in a black cloak. From his exposed hands, it could be seen that he was a man. Further back to the side was a hunchbacked man who looked to be in his fifties. A pair of sinister eyes kept sweeping over Zhao Min and Li Yan.
And the last person who spoke was actually someone Li Yan and his companion knew. He was thin, with dark green skin. He wore a square scarf hat, and a string of jade beads on his wrist was very eye-catching. His handsome features had a touch of femininity.
"Oh, what a coincidence to meet Fellow Daoist Wusitu in this far western land!"
The scholar-like person was actually Wusitu from the Giant Wood Clan.
"Truly a fateful encounter, Fellow… Daoist… Zhang!"
The moment Wusitu saw Li Yan, his face twitched several times. He had been tormented by that strange poison for half a month, which had caused him immense pain. To this day, he could only guess that he had been poisoned after entering the other party's courtyard, but he still couldn't figure out how he was poisoned, or what kind of poison it was.
"Oh, Wusitu, you know these two fellow Daoists?"
Just as the two sides had spoken, the hunchbacked man who had been sizing up Li Yan and Zhao Min suddenly said coldly.
Li Yan immediately noticed that just as the hunchbacked man spoke, the other few people had instantly moved their feet, faintly forming an encirclement around Wusitu. A thought stirred in his mind, and he immediately transmitted his voice to Zhao Min.
"Let's go!"
He already had some guesses. So he pulled Zhao Min, and the two of them urged the tokens in their hands with their Spirit Power. A large amount of green light then erupted from the tokens in their hands. The next moment, these green lights enveloped each of them, instantly forming a green light shield around their bodies. Then Li Yan and the other person stepped on the ground, turned into two streaks of green light, and immediately flew towards the bright yellow light shield in front of them at an extremely fast speed.
The moment the green light and the bright yellow light shield came into contact, Li Yan and Zhao Min felt the tokens in their hands suddenly disappear without a trace. In just one breath, the two of them felt a jolt under their feet and stepped onto solid ground.
The scene before them suddenly opened up. Although the light was still not too bright, it was no longer dark. A vast land was illuminated in a dim yellow light. This could no longer be called a cave. The cave roof above had disappeared, and what appeared in the sky was a vast expanse of darkness, like a giant black curtain covering the sky.
Looking up, the sky was at least several thousand zhang high from the ground. The land was a vast and desolate desert. The dim light came from the countless grains of sand. In the distance, many dilapidated walls and palace pillars stood or lay, showing that there had once been many stone buildings here. At this moment, there was not a single intact building in sight. The standing giant pillars were either tilted or broken and smashed into the desert, covered in cracks.
The exposed black giant stones were half-buried in the sand, with only a part of them, long or short, exposed, like broken branches and sharp spears pointing towards the sky. This scene stretched into the distance, making it impossible to know where the horizon was. Under the dim light, everything here was like an abandoned dynasty at sunset, giving rise to a boundless sense of desolation and loneliness in one's heart!