After entering the secret grotto, Wusitu's group of five had indeed searched for Li Yan and the other person for a while. However, the entrance area led in three different directions. They had split up to search in each direction, but after covering some distance, they found no trace of Li Yan's duo and had to give up for the time being.
In truth, the direction they ultimately took was the same as Li Yan's!
However, Wusitu and the others had wasted time searching earlier. In addition, although Li Yan was heading in the same direction, he had never been here before. Therefore, his chosen route, which had fewer cultivators and demonic beasts, still deviated from the one chosen by Wusitu's group. This caused the two parties to never cross paths.
As An Die spoke, she had already tossed out a palm-sized, light-red formation plate. Then, her fair, lotus-root-like arms danced swiftly, creating a large swathe of snow-white phantom images in the air. As she danced and formed seals, a translucent, light-red light screen slowly rose from these phantom images, quickly enveloping the five of them.
The moment the five were enveloped, the light screen immediately dissipated, and their figures vanished from the spot along with it. Looking up from below, the area was empty.
High above their previous position, within an invisible light shield, the figures of the five quickly reappeared.
Inside the light shield, the thin, dark, and withered old Daoist spoke again.
"With Fellow Daoist An Die's formation for concealment, unless a Nascent Soul cultivator probes, even if that 'Black Cloud Frost-Condensing Worm' is at the peak of the late Third-rank, it won't detect our ambush here."
After he said this, the others all nodded in agreement.
Their group had allowed this An Die to join precisely for her attainments in formations. Most of the people here had fought with this bewitching vixen before. Although An Die's own combat power was not as good as theirs, once she was given the opportunity to set up a formation, the outcome would be hard to say.
Seeing this, An Die giggled even more, the expanse of white on her chest swaying and making the others' eyes swim.
The thin, dark, and withered old Daoist also quickly looked away, suppressed the heat in his heart, and then continued.
"Then let's reconfirm the distribution matters we agreed on before. Everyone, don't lose your composure when you see the 'Black Cloud Frost-Condensing Worm.' That way, we will only cause internal strife."
There were two Pseudo-Nascent Soul cultivators here: the thin, dark, and withered old Daoist and the man in the black cloak. But it was clear that the old Daoist's aura was more profound and solid. The group faintly regarded him as the leader.
"There's actually no need to say this again. None of the five of us are people who go back on their word," the man in the black cloak said in his still-hoarse voice. The old Daoist, however, waved his hand.
"Fellow Daoist Chen, everyone here knows everyone else's secrets. Don't say that some people don't have the idea of reaping the rewards without sowing. The reason I'm bringing this up is to let everyone know how ferocious the 'Black Cloud Frost-Condensing Worm' is. A single misstep, even being hit by a puff of its demonic qi, could result in serious injury. There are a total of three materials that can be distributed from the 'Black Cloud Frost-Condensing Worm': its physical body, its demonic core, and the qi sac in its throat that contains the icy poison."
"Fellow Daoist An Die is fine. She only needs its physical body to refine medicinal pills. The demonic core and the icy poison qi sac are to be distributed among the four of us. Previously, it was said to be an equal division because it was uncertain whether we could find the 'Fire Sun Stone.' Now, I think it's most appropriate to distribute the shares based on who truly contributed the most! Fellow Daoist An Die has basically fulfilled her promise so far, so it's fine for her to get that physical body…"
This time, before the old Daoist could finish, the faces of Wusitu and the hunchbacked man darkened.
"Old charlatan, just say you want to distribute it based on cultivation level. Even if we fight with all our might, we can't compare to you and Fellow Daoist Chen," the hunchbacked man said with a disdainful look, his head tilted.
"You didn't say it earlier, you didn't say it later. You only brought it up after we worked hard to help Fellow Daoist An Die set up the grand formation. Is this your true purpose?" Although Wusitu didn't speak, he also looked at the old Daoist with a gloomy face, his eyes filled with the same disdain.
They all knew that although An Die's contribution also required a share of the materials, what she wanted was the physical body of the 'Black Cloud Frost-Condensing Worm.' The physical body of a Third-rank demonic beast was very valuable, but the other two things on the 'Black Cloud Frost-Condensing Worm' were even more valuable to them. There were only so many things, so the amount was naturally very important.
The old Daoist's eyebrows twitched. His original intention was indeed to fear that these few people would not use their full strength in order to preserve their strength. In this underground secret grotto, everyone knew the consequences of being injured. A slightly serious injury could mean losing one's life.
And just as a disagreement arose among them, their faces suddenly showed a strange expression, and they all looked in a certain direction. Then, their faces first showed a look of astonishment, and then they all revealed looks of joy.
"Fellow Daoist An Die, this formation of yours seems to be movable, right? Don't startle the demonic beasts here…"
"Then let's put the matter of the 'Black Cloud Frost-Condensing Worm' aside for now and divide the other benefits first!"
Wusitu and the old Daoist spoke one after another. The others also nodded…
More than three thousand li away, two figures were flying along the riverbank at a leisurely pace. From time to time, they would cast their Divine Sense into the river to search carefully.
After retracting his Divine Sense, Li Yan looked up at the towering black mountain across the river.
"According to the description in the jade slip, the last time the 'Howling Cold Stone' was found was on the edge of this riverbank. But there's no specific location, just a general area. We've been searching all this way with no results. However, I think this mountain is bone-chillingly cold. Perhaps for some reason, it can produce 'Howling Cold Stones.' And the place where they are born is precisely the lower half of the mountain body, which has the densest cold qi and has been soaked in the river since ancient times. If that's the case, the possibility of 'Howling Cold Stones' appearing on the opposite bank of the river would be much greater!"
Ever since they had found this river, they had been searching along the riverbank for some time according to the description in the jade slip.
"What junior brother said makes sense. This side of the river is close to the plains, and those clouds of mist will also spread to the riverbank. Before they are dispersed by the cold qi, the spiritual energy in the mist will still affect the temperature on this side of the river. The 'Howling Cold Stone' is an extremely yin object, and the conditions for its formation are already extremely high. Relatively speaking, the chances on the opposite side of the river are indeed much higher. In that case, junior brother, you search on the opposite side of the river, and I'll search on this side. The speed will be much faster!"
Li Yan nodded. He had the same idea. Although the river was only about one hundred and forty zhang wide, for them, it was something they could scan with a single sweep of their Divine Sense. However, some treasures could not necessarily be found just by relying on Divine Sense. It required the use of various sensory abilities: magical power, sight, smell, and even the perception when getting close.
Li Yan didn't say any more. With a flicker of his body, he flew towards the foot of the mountain on the opposite side of the river.
They planned to carefully search this river in about half a month. If there was nothing, they could only give up. The remaining time would be spent looking at the dilapidated statue that Su Hong had mentioned.
After re-confirming their method, the two of them searched and moved forward on both sides of the river, while also being vigilant of the surrounding situation.
When they had come over from the plains earlier, they had encountered several more groups of cultivators. Li Yan and his companion had tried their best to avoid them from afar. Although he and Zhao Min were not afraid of those people's strength now, with their personalities, they did not want to waste time on these things at all. As long as it was not too troublesome, they would naturally avoid them from afar if they could take a detour.
But even so, Li Yan and his companion were still chased for tens of thousands of li by three of the cultivators and had to turn around and fight them. After seriously injuring two of them, the three cultivators knew that they had kicked an iron plate and fled in panic. Li Yan and the other person did not pursue. Therefore, at any time here, they would always have a wisp of Divine Sense on guard around them.
Just like this, the two of them searched and moved forward, flying for another thousand li along the river.
And at a certain moment, Li Yan and Zhao Min's bodies suddenly came to a sharp halt almost at the same time. They both felt an unsettling palpitation coming from the depths of their souls. This was the keen sense of someone who had walked on the edge of life and death for many years. The two of them, without any hesitation, shouted at each other at the same time.
"Be careful!"
At the same time, the two of them quickly gathered towards the middle of the river. But just as their figures had just flown out towards each other, several wild laughs sounded from above their heads.
"Hahaha, your senses are quite sharp!"
"I told you we should have just attacked directly. Now they've discovered us first, and we've lost the initiative!"
Li Yan and Zhao Min's figures, which were flying towards each other, suddenly stopped. Li Yan's face instantly became ugly.
He and Zhao Min had been separated and surrounded before they had even gathered! And what made him feel most uneasy was that the other party had already gotten right above their heads, and he still hadn't noticed. This had almost never happened before. Instead, it was their own instincts that had reacted first in a life-and-death crisis, which was why they were not caught off guard.
Following the sound, he looked up. After seeing these people's cultivation, Li Yan was even more shocked. There were five of them in total, and it was the group he had seen with Wusitu. How could they have snuck up so close to them?
But before Li Yan could think further, he was surrounded in a fan shape by two people: Wusitu and that thin, dark, and withered old Daoist. And Zhao Min was surrounded by the other three on the other side.
"Fellow Daoist Zhang, what a fateful encounter. We meet again!"
Wusitu saw Li Yan's somewhat gloomy face, and a sense of satisfaction rose in his heart.
"What do you all want?"
Li Yan first glanced at Zhao Min's side. The two sides had just formed a confrontation and had not yet attacked. His mind raced, considering countermeasures. His face had already returned to calm as he stared at Wusitu and the old Daoist, saying each word clearly.
"Nothing much. Just want to borrow something from you two fellow Daoists." the old Daoist said slowly.
"Borrow our lives?" Li Yan narrowed his eyes.
"Immeasurable Heavenly Venerate, hehehe. So what fellow Daoist asked just now was nonsense!" The old Daoist made a Daoist salute with one hand, appearing very gentle and polite.
"Wusitu, I have a fairly good relationship with your Giant Wood Clan, and I have even met your ancestor. Does your esteemed clan know what you are doing?" Li Yan no longer paid attention to the old Daoist, but instead looked at Wusitu.
Hearing this, Wusitu was stunned. He really didn't know that Li Yan had met his own clan's ancestor. Because at that time, he was still in seclusion. And Ting Bixiao had directly led Li Yan and the other two into the depths of the clan. Even his spies would not dare to stare at their own clan leader all day long.
After just a moment of shock, he immediately felt that the other party was just bluffing. His own clan's ancestor was a Nascent Soul expert. The other party had already gotten the benefit of the "Wood Essence Pool." The ancestor would still want to see him? It was simply nonsense. And thinking again of the matter of the other party poisoning him, he felt even more that the other party was sinister and incomparably so, always wanting to use other methods to plot against him.
"My ancestor really does know about this matter…" Wusitu said in a teasing tone. But before he could finish speaking, the hoarse voice of the man in the black cloak came from the other side.
"You talk too much nonsense. We still have more important things to do!"
At the same time as the hoarse voice came, on the other side, "boom boom boom" sounds were constantly heard, and the surrounding space violently agitated. In an instant, the three of them began to attack Zhao Min.
A bewitching female cultivator at the Initial-stage Golden Core, a hunchbacked man at the Late-stage Golden Core, and that man in the black cloak whose aura suddenly surged, his cultivation greatly increasing, was actually a peak Mid-stage Golden Core expert, a Pseudo-Nascent Soul cultivator. Li Yan and his companion could hide their aura, and others could too.