A strange expression appeared on Zi Kun's face as well. In his view, Li Yan had entered the Earthen Patch for arduous closed-door cultivation all these years, so he naturally wouldn't have had a chance to let Qian Ji out.
But now that Li Yan had returned to the outside world alone, could it be that the half-blood had not yet succeeded in advancing? Or perhaps he had failed and, disheartened, did not want to see anyone?
The question Li Yan was about to ask was caught in his throat. His expression faltered for a moment before quickly returning to normal.
"Oh, he… he's doing quite well. Wait a moment!"
Li Yan broke into a cold sweat internally. He had actually left the Snow Mosquito King in that space and forgotten about him for decades.
With that, Li Yan waved his hand at Zi Kun, stopping him from asking any more questions, and a wisp of his Divine Sense quickly entered the Earthen Patch.
On the peak of a snow-covered mountain, a giant Snow Mosquito, a full five zhang in length, was lying on a crystal ice cliff. Its body was translucent and sparkled, with streams of white air flowing within it as it breathed, giving it a very strange, demonic appearance.
The giant Snow Mosquito stared at the riverbank at the foot of the mountain, where spring was in full bloom, and let out an indifferent yawn.
Beside him, two smaller Snow Mosquitos, only about one zhang in size, were nestled close to him.
"My King, shall we return to the bedchambers?" one of the Snow Mosquitos asked in a crisp voice.
The Snow Mosquito King remained motionless, his giant mouthparts resting on the ice in front of him, looking completely listless.
"Alright, you two go back first!"
He simply said this one sentence and then fell silent again, his eyelids drooping as he looked down below.
The two Snow Mosquitos, as translucent as ice sculptures, knew their King was in low spirits. This had been the case for over thirty years, ever since he had advanced to a third-rank Demonic Beast.
In the first few days, their King had been so excited, searching everywhere for that Purple Divine Elephant.
Although he hadn't found him, he remained incredibly excited, which had left his concubines, including them, collapsed in their caves for several days, unable to move.
Later, their King had constantly sent out transmissions, but he never received a reply, which made his mood worsen day by day.
It got to the point where, for a period of time, his temper became particularly volatile, and he even killed a few of his kin who had displeased him…
After that, he had slowly become more and more withdrawn, often just lying in one spot without moving, staying there for an entire day.
After the two Snow Mosquitos flew away, the Snow Mosquito King listlessly stared at the eternally unchanging river below, watching the water flow away without a second thought.
'Have you all perished? How on earth can I get out? If I can never leave, what's the point of cultivating to an even higher level…'
His mind began to repeat the thoughts he had contemplated countless times.
Over these many years, he had tried innumerable methods, but he simply could not leave this space. It was as if there were no gate to heaven and no road into the earth.
Here, he was now an invincible existence, but what was the use of that?
And so, the Snow Mosquito King, who had once been full of hope, found all his sharpness slowly worn away until he was almost completely dispirited.
"Peak initial-stage third-rank. Your cultivation is acceptable!"
Just as the Snow Mosquito King was dozing off, a somewhat familiar voice suddenly reached his ears.
But he only shifted his head, not opening his eyes. He had experienced this countless times in his dreams.
The only difference each time was the content of what was said; what remained the same was that the moment he opened his eyes, there was nothing there.
"It seems you're quite comfortable here and have no intention of leaving!"
The Snow Mosquito King had just settled his head in a more comfortable position when the voice came again.
This time, the Snow Mosquito King opened his eyes in confusion and looked around. As his gaze swept upwards to the sky, his massive body couldn't help but jolt violently.
Then he shook his head forcefully and stared intently into the air again. There was indeed a figure standing there. He stammered in disbelief. "Ma… Master?"
"Yes. I've been in seclusion at the foot of the mountain all these years. Now that my seclusion is over, I'm leaving. What about you?"
"It really… is… Master…"
Li Yan said no more. With a flicker of his Divine Sense, he and the Snow Mosquito King vanished from the snowy peak.
In the bamboo courtyard.
"Master, this little one missed you so much! I… I… I was cultivating arduously inside, but… but…"
"Alright, I was cultivating in there for these past few decades too. If you don't believe me, you can ask Zi Kun!"
Li Yan sat by the stone table, his expression unchanged as he watched Qian Ji, who was a mess of tears and snot.
"You half-blood, you're a third-rank Demonic Beast. A few decades of seclusion pass in a flash. How can you have so little regard for your status? You're a disgrace. Master was also in seclusion there for over fifty years. Is there any need for you to complain like this?"
"Ah… really? How come I didn't sense Master's aura? If I had sensed even a little bit, I would have known I could still get out in this lifetime!"
Qian Ji looked at Zi Kun with teary eyes, his face a picture of shock and doubt.
"Alright, stop talking about your trivial matters. Let me tell you about the situation here! This is Master's sect. Not only are there fights to be had, but there's also endless good wine, and the female cultivators here are all so…"
"This is Master's sect? We're back on the Desolate Moon Continent? …Sigh, never mind all that. You said there are many female cultivators? How pretty are they? Do they have big chests and big butts…"
Now in the form of a youth in white, the tears on Qian Ji's face suddenly vanished. His eyes lit up as he grabbed Zi Kun, a shiny substance appearing at the corner of his mouth!
Li Yan quickly made his way to the main hall in front. On duty today was his Fourth Senior Sister, Miao Wangqing. When Miao Wangqing saw Li Yan, she first froze, then her large eyes instantly filled with indignation and tears.
"Junior Brother, you're finally out of seclusion!"
The smiling expression on Li Yan's face froze. He had no idea why everyone he saw today was bursting into tears.
'Am… am I really that missed?'
Later, after Li Yan's questioning, he finally learned what had happened over so many years.
Li Wuyi was also currently in seclusion. His Second and Third Senior Brothers were out on a mission. None of this felt particularly unusual to Li Yan; this was the normal life of a cultivator.
But when he heard that his Fifth and Seventh Senior Brothers had both exhausted their lifespans and perished one after another, Li Yan was stunned.
This was something he had never imagined, or perhaps, he had temporarily forgotten about the passage of time and lifespans.
For a moment, Li Yan stood speechless in the main hall.
...
"Master, Eldest Senior Brother, let me take Little Junior Brother. I can still handle these things…"
That was the first time he had seen Lin Daqiao. He was the first person, aside from Li Wuyi, to treat him with such warmth, allowing Li Yan's somewhat reserved heart to begin to relax.
"Isn't that so? You all still call me 'Little Junior Brother,' so wouldn't I have to call Junior Brother Li 'Senior Brother Li' then…"
That was the scene of Lin Daqiao looking indignant as Miao Wangqing teased him.
"Little Junior Brother, the place where we live is not far ahead. I heard this place used to have many houses, but a hundred years ago…"
This was Lin Daqiao leading Li Yan to his bamboo courtyard residence, chattering incessantly along the way, introducing him to Little Bamboo Peak.
"These are also Spirit Artifacts, just of a lower grade. The clothes can offer some simple protection, and the boots can be used in combat…"
This was the scene of Lin Daqiao introducing Li Yan, who was encountering Spirit Artifacts for the first time, to each one…
From that moment on, Li Yan truly began his most basic introduction to cultivation. Scene after scene of the past flashed through Li Yan's mind!
To be honest, he had not had much contact with his Fifth Senior Brother, Wen Xinliang. Although he felt a similar sense of regret, it did not have the same impact as hearing that Lin Daqiao's Dao had perished.
As Miao Wangqing spoke of these things, she forgot about her own matters for a moment.
Events that had long passed were brought to her mind once more, and her eyes immediately reddened again.
After a moment of silence, Li Yan sighed softly.
"The immortal path is unpredictable. Both senior brothers have been on the great Way of Reincarnation for several decades now. It's not impossible that they have already stepped onto the immortal path once again. Perhaps we will have a day of reunion."
It was possible for a cultivator to recover memories of a past life, but the probability was so low it was almost zero.
It would require their past life's cultivation method to be special, resulting in an exceptionally powerful Divine Soul, and for them to have a strong, lingering attachment they could not let go of.
In that case, once they stepped onto the immortal path again and cultivated to the Great Ascension Realm, they might be able to remember some things from their past life. But this was something almost no one could achieve.
First, after reincarnation, just re-possessing a Spirit Root was an extremely slim chance, one in a hundred thousand, or even one in a million, among the vast population of mortals.
Second, even counting the cultivators of the Immortal Spirit Realm, probably not many could cultivate to the Great Ascension stage.
Even True Lord Qianchong, whom Li Yan considered to be truly omnipotent in terms of magical power, and that Master from the Gui Water Immortal Sect whom he had never met, had probably not reached it.
But Li Yan's words still offered a form of hope.
Then, Li Yan also learned of the chubby Mei Bucai's demise and Chu Weili's successful Golden Core formation. Regarding this, he only sighed with emotion.
Afterward, Li Yan finally understood the meaning behind Miao Wangqing's somewhat resentful gaze from before.
It turned out she was supposed to have been married fifteen years ago, but then she had the misfortune of dealing with their Eldest Senior Brother's disposition, and the matter was forcefully postponed. A smile of apology appeared on Li Yan's face.
"Fourth Senior Sister, allow me to congratulate you here first. How long will Eldest Senior Brother be in seclusion this time?"
"He was already in seclusion for many years before, and his cultivation has reached the bottleneck of the late-stage Golden Core. He is now in seclusion just to build up momentum for the breakthrough, so it won't be for too long this time."
In fact, Li Wuyi's previous seclusion was real, but his current one was more of an excuse to avoid facing Miao Wangqing and Li Changting. Otherwise, the moment the two women saw him, their faces would be full of resentment.
And whenever the two women spoke, no matter what they said, he could only nod his head in agreement, with no other recourse.
"That's good!"
Li Yan exchanged a few more simple words with Miao Wangqing before taking his leave.
Afterward, Li Yan went to see Wei Zhongran and happened to also see Zhao Min, whom he hadn't seen in many years. When Zhao Min saw him, her face showed no surprise.
The moment two Golden Core realm experts appeared on Little Bamboo Peak, Wei Zhongran naturally knew immediately.
He also saw the demonic aura surging from Qian Ji, so he asked his daughter, who was talking with Zhao Zhi.
When Zhao Min heard that Li Yan was out of seclusion, a smile immediately appeared on her cold face, and she told Wei Zhongran that it was also Li Yan's Companion Spirit Beast.
Wei Zhongran was quite surprised to hear this. He had not heard from his daughter that Li Yan had another Companion Spirit Beast.
He had seen Zi Kun fight against Wei Chituo and the others. The Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant possessed innate divine strength, and its combat power was not ordinary. Among all the Golden Core cultivators in the Malevolent Spirit Sect, its combat power could rank within the top forty.
After all, the Malevolent Spirit Sect had many veteran Golden Core cultivators like Yan Longzi and Li Yuyin, as well as other Peak Masters and Elders.
Moreover, the Malevolent Spirit Sect also had quite a few third-rank Demonic Beasts.
One must remember that this was a top-tier sect on the continent, so such combat strength was already extremely formidable.
He had not expected that, after a few decades, another third-rank Demonic Beast would emerge from Li Yan's side. He could feel the bone-chillingly cold demonic power from its body—an extremely pure ice-attribute power.
Even without a fight, Wei Zhongran knew that the innate divine ability of this variant-attribute Spirit Root Demonic Beast would surely be very difficult to deal with.