Upon the return of Gong Shanhe and his group, Yan San's side swiftly turned their attention to Li Yan's party. They saw a figure shrouded in a hazy light, also exuding a formidable aura.
After confirming that Li Yan was in perfect condition and that Gong Shanhe had maintained his combat strength, Yan San and his followers vanished even more quickly than they had appeared.
If they were to fight the Tianli Clan now, besides Yan San himself, the other three beasts would surely suffer a great loss. And who was that powerful new aura?
This filled Yan San and the others with both doubt and fury. Not only had the Tianli Clan not lost any high-level cultivators, but their numbers were actually increasing.
Seeing the other side retreat, the Grand Elder and the others did not give chase. Gong Shanhe and the Sixth Elder were not in good condition.
Moreover, they had much to discuss among themselves, especially about the addition of another powerful, unknown cultivator.
...
In the Tianli Clan, joyous shouts shot up to the heavens. The young and old of the clan all came out of their homes, looking up at the sky. Giant illusory figures of Gong Shanhe and the Sixth Elder appeared in the air.
In an instant, the cheers of the Tianli Clan members were earth-shattering, a boiling cauldron of excitement. Many even wept with joy.
Gong Shanhe said a few simple words, instructing the clan's cultivators and warriors to continue their strict watch on the front lines, then flew towards the rear with the Grand Elder and his entourage.
Many in the clan saw Gong Chenying standing beside a hazy figure, and that mysterious young cultivator was also standing not far away. Some even bowed deeply to Li Yan.
Now, under the Grand Elder's deliberate and secret arrangements, some of Li Yan's deeds had already spread among the common people of the Tianli Clan, such as his slaying of a Fourth-rank beast in the last great battle and setting up an unbreakable defensive line.
These stories were passed from mouth to mouth. And some time ago, some people had said that Li Yan had disappeared, possibly to inquire about the Clan Chief and the Sixth Elder, but this news was never confirmed.
Now, seeing that both the Clan Chief and the Sixth Elder had returned, and that Li Yan was right beside them, many people recalled that rumor.
"He really did go to find the Clan Chief and the Sixth Elder!"
"Why is this person helping our clan so much?"
"News from the front says he's from the same sect as A'ying. Of course, he would help!"
"Shh... I heard he might be the 'Qing A Wang'..."
"Nonsense, I've never heard A'ying say she's fond of anyone..."
Amidst the majestic mountains, the clanspeople were scattered in various villages. They discussed in low voices, but the vast majority were those who held a favorable impression of Li Yan, especially the mortals.
For more than two months, countless people had prayed for Li Yan, wishing for this cultivator to have an eternal lifespan. These ordinary mortals were long weary of watching their loved ones die.
Now, they were slowly awakening from their numbness, finding some of what they had lost...
The Second Elder saw all of this and could only sigh in his heart. It was more a sigh for Gong Shanhe's influence; his prestige could not be erased in just a decade or so...
After arriving at the Tianli Clan, Li Yan did not go to the "Heavenly Dawn Hall" but went directly to his own residence. Gong Chenying immediately accompanied Hong Yin to the clan's repository of scriptures and records.
As for Hong Yin, Gong Shanhe secretly sent a voice transmission to the Grand Elder and the others, stating that Hong Yin was the soul of a powerful expert they had met in their place of confinement, and that she now needed to look at some records.
He let her view the outer scriptures for now, and they would discuss the follow-up matters in detail later.
Gong Shanhe first had to discuss the most urgent matter with the Grand Elder and the others. That matter could not be delayed any longer. However, before parting with Li Yan, he glanced at him, and Li Yan nodded slightly.
This also put Gong Shanhe slightly at ease. He had already witnessed Li Yan's combat power. Having him keep an eye on Gong Chenying's side should not be a problem.
In the Heavenly Dawn Hall, apart from the Fourth Elder who was still in seclusion due to his severe injuries, the Fifth Elder, who had basically recovered, also came upon hearing the news, as did the injured Sixth Elder, to participate in this important meeting of the Tianli Clan.
The mere fact that Gong Shanhe had not first gone to recuperate upon his return to the clan showed the urgency in his heart.
"What? A fourth type of beast? Shanhe, are you sure it's a beast?"
The Grand Elder's face was filled with shock.
After everyone was seated, Gong Shanhe did not wait for them to ask about his and the Sixth Elder's experiences, but recounted everything he had discovered at the bottom of the swamp.
"On the way, I and Old Six also cross-referenced what happened after we separated. We speculate that Yan San probably discovered the existence of this type of beast before.
But after he went to investigate, he was not confident he could deal with this type of beast. However, he still managed to escape with his peak Fourth-rank strength. After that, he set a trap, intending to use the beasts beneath the swamp to inflict heavy casualties on our clan!"
Gong Shanhe spoke quickly.
"But if, as you say, the strength of the underground beasts is already very strong, to the point that even Yan San can't deal with them, why haven't they broken through to the surface? And... and they didn't kill you and Old Six!"
As the elders listened to Gong Shanhe's account, they all frowned one by one. The Second Elder was the first to ask directly.
"That is a slumbering Fifth-rank beast. It left us alive to absorb our qi and blood for its recovery!"
Gong Shanhe directly revealed even more shocking news. This time, it greatly startled the Grand Elder and the others. The hall was quiet for a full five or six breaths, filled with the sound of heavy breathing.
"You... you mean... that is a Fifth-rank beast?"
The Grand Elder's tone was low.
"This should be correct. The reason we are certain is because of that Fellow Daoist Hong Yin who returned with us..."
This meeting lasted for nearly three hours. When the Grand Elder and the others finally came out, their faces were solemn.
The Third Elder had also lost her usual magnificent and peerless demeanor. She looked at the night sky in front of her, sighed, and flew into the night.
In her heart, she had thought that with Gong Shanhe and the Sixth Elder returning alive, the Tianli Clan had finally gained the upper hand and stabilized the situation. But she had not expected Gong Shanhe to bring back even worse news.
The Second and Fifth Elders also walked out of the "Heavenly Dawn Hall" with their heads down, thinking about things with grave expressions. They finally knew why the three beast clans had joined forces to attack the Tianli Clan with such desperation.
They wanted to take down the Tianli Clan as quickly as possible before the fourth clan of beasts emerged, and use the Tianli Clan's hoarded resources to allow Yan San to quickly break through to the Fifth-rank, so he could contend with that terrifying beast.
Otherwise, given the nature of the beasts, if the three clans of "Wind Goose Beasts" had not always been of similar strength and lived as neighbors for generations, knowing each other's details, they would have long since fought to the death among themselves.
Since the beasts under the swamp were stronger than all of them, they would absolutely not allow these three clans to remain in this area. Even if they couldn't destroy the "Heaven's Eye Pits" of the three clans, they would beat them so badly that they could never emerge from the ground again...
For a time, while the people of the Tianli Clan below were joyous, a dark cloud hung over the high-level members. The reason the Grand Elder and the others had discussed for so long was that they were already discussing a way out.
But at present, none of them could think of a suitable place on the Wind God Continent that could accommodate such a large clan. In the end, they could only list a few places and then send people to investigate first before making a decision.
After Li Yan returned to the pavilion where he was staying, he let Qian Ji and Zi Kun go on their own, while he sat cross-legged in the pavilion with his eyes closed.
In his Divine Sense, the auras of Gong Chenying and the other appeared.
Hong Yin, who was in the repository of scriptures and records, seemed to have sensed Li Yan's Divine Sense. She only glanced in the direction of the Divine Sense before immersing herself in the various scriptures and jade slips again.
She needed to understand too many things. It was not something she could understand in detail just by listening to Gong Shanhe and the others describe it.
And Li Yan did not deliberately hide his investigation. He was openly telling Hong Yin that he was watching her, and that she should not have any ill intentions.
At first, Li Yan saw that Hong Yin was still searching for scriptures on her own, while Gong Chenying was just sitting on the side cultivating. But after half a day, Hong Yin began to ask Gong Chenying questions about the scriptures, and in the end, the two were whispering continuously.
Although he was monitoring them, he wasn't staring at their every word and action like a prison guard. He just let his Divine Sense drift nearby, so he didn't know what the two were talking about.
It was still the same old saying. With Hong Yin's cultivation, if she wanted to attack Gong Chenying, he wouldn't be able to stop her in time. It was just a warning.
Now that the Tianli Clan and Hong Yin were slowly moving towards cooperation, although Li Yan was dissatisfied with Hong Yin, he couldn't take the initiative to provoke her.
Two days later, a voice transmission from Hong Yin came into Li Yan's Divine Sense.
"Daoist Li, come over here for a moment!"
In the pavilion, Li Yan, upon hearing this, immediately opened his eyes. There was still more than a day left of the three days they had agreed upon with Hong Yin. Why was she calling him over at this time?
"Let's see what other tricks you have up your sleeve. If you want to propose any more conditions, then I'll have to try to secretly poison you with the Fragmented Poison and then get the method to remove the restriction from you!"
Li Yan thought to himself!
When Li Yan appeared before that repository of scriptures and records, he was surprised to find Gong Shanhe's figure there as well.
The guards of the repository were respectfully reporting something to Gong Shanhe in a low voice. Seeing Li Yan arrive, Gong Shanhe waved his hand at the guards.
When the guards saw that the person who had flown down was Li Yan, they also bowed respectfully. The one who looked like the captain even crossed his hands and bowed deeply.
"We greet Senior Li!"
Li Yan, on the other hand, nodded with a smile on his face. Immediately, this squad of guards said no more and immediately concealed themselves in the surroundings. It seemed the Tianli Clan also placed great importance on their scriptures.
Li Yan could sense that apart from this squad of guards, there were also the auras of several Golden Core experts in the dark.
The guards here were actually just to guard against people within the clan. If an outsider wanted to get here, they would at least have to pass through the Divine Senses of the Tianli Clan's several elders, as well as the clan-protecting grand formation.
However, Li Yan also guessed that although the scriptures and jade slips stored here were precious, treasures of the level of the Tianli Clan's ultimate treasure, the "Qiongqi Purgatory Art," would certainly not be placed here, but in the most secret core of the Tianli Clan.
"Let's see what she wants to say today. If it really comes to it, I'll also inform the Grand Elder to come over!"
Just as that squad of guards had withdrawn, Gong Shanhe glanced at Li Yan and then sent a transmission as he walked towards the pavilion. But it was his voice that appeared in Li Yan's mind.
His voice also revealed a kind of decisiveness. It was clear that Gong Shanhe didn't want to waste any more time with the other party. He could have waited another day, but since the other party had asked them to come over, it was clear that she had made some kind of decision.
Gong Shanhe's thoughts coincided with Li Yan's. This future father-in-law and son-in-law should have had some things to say to each other after returning.
But because Gong Chenying was not present for these few days, and Li Yan was monitoring, and Gong Shanhe was recovering from his injuries, they had been busy with their own things.
When the two entered the pavilion, Hong Yin was slowly walking down from upstairs with Gong Chenying. Hong Yin had also sensed their arrival.
And what surprised Li Yan and the other was Gong Chenying's appearance at this moment. She was still as cold and beautiful as ever, but on her back, she carried a long spear, the same crimson-glowing spear that had been by Hong Yin's side.
Seeing Li Yan and the other enter the first-floor hall, Hong Yin immediately stopped at the top of the stairs. But Gong Chenying, after glancing at Hong Yin, actually walked quickly towards the two of them alone.
This scene stunned Li Yan and Gong Shanhe, but neither of them made a sound, also stopping in the middle of the hall.
"A'die, I'm back!"
The moment Gong Chenying approached the two of them, her cool voice was already heard.
Immediately, a scene that the two of them had not expected occurred. The power of Gong Chenying's Divine Sense appeared, but only for a moment before it disappeared again.
As she looked at Li Yan, her voice transmission sounded in his mind.
"It's alright, Little Junior Brother!"
The fluctuation of her Divine Sense made a sharp glint flash in the eyes of both Gong Shanhe and Li Yan.
After receiving Gong Chenying's voice transmission, although Li Yan was still puzzled, it should be true that the seal on Gong Chenying's Divine Sense had been removed.
However, he still planned to carefully examine the other's sea of consciousness later, with Gong Chenying's consent, to make a final confirmation and determine if she was unharmed.
Li Yan's thoughts were exactly the same as Gong Shanhe's at this moment. However, even as Gong Chenying's father, he also needed Gong Chenying's consent. After all, his daughter had long since grown up.
Li Yan did not speak, but took a few more steps forward, standing by Gong Chenying's side, his gaze once again turning to Hong Yin. At this time, Gong Shanhe's voice sounded in the hall.
"Fellow Daoist Hong Yin, it seems you have gained a lot from consulting the scriptures in my clan these past few days. You must believe that what we said before was not false!"
As his gaze turned to Hong Yin, he swept it over Gong Chenying again.
Hong Yin was still standing at the top of the stairs. She also nodded slightly at Gong Shanhe.
"Even if you were putting on a show, you would have to find beasts of different clans to cooperate with you. I believe you don't have that ability yet!"
In fact, the moment Yan San and the others appeared that day, Hong Yin had already believed what Gong Shanhe and the others had said.
She certainly understood the nature of the beasts very well. And the place where she was staying was the battlefield of both sides. She saw large numbers of low-rank beasts constantly trying to break through some of the other side's formation defenses.
And in those formations, a large number of beast corpses were piled up. With her Divine Sense, she could determine that those were definitely not created by some illusion.
Moreover, she could also see the soaring blood qi from the long wall on the Tianli Clan's side.
This was not something that could be faked by simply killing some people or demonic beasts. This was the dense aura of blood light that would only appear after years of great battles between both sides.
"Since there are no more rifts between you and us, have you considered the matter I mentioned before?"
A smile appeared on Gong Shanhe's face.
"To be your clan's guest elder, and you will help me find a physical body?"
On the stairs, Hong Yin quietly looked at Gong Shanhe.