As his skin rippled like a tide, Li Yan's bones emitted a "kaka-kaka..." sound of being overwhelmed, as if they would break at any moment.
Sweat poured down Li Yan's face like rain, and the intense pain from within his body constantly assaulted his nerves. But to this, Li Yan seemed to feel nothing.
He had experienced this kind of pain countless times before. Whether it was cultivating the "Qiongqi Purgatory Art" or refining essence blood, it was an inhuman, purgatorial process.
However, Li Yan felt that the current pain was much lighter than before. His endurance also seemed to be growing stronger...
Another half an hour later, as Li Yan's bones emitted a dense, rain-like sound, they suddenly condensed into a single sound. This sound exploded in Li Yan's body like a muffled thunderclap, and the entire cultivation chamber shook violently!
Li Yan stood bare-chested in the cultivation chamber. He felt the long-stagnant increase in his strength and couldn't help but clench his fists.
The moment he clenched his fists, a feeling of extreme fullness swelled in the pads of his ten fingers. This was the solid feeling brought by a sudden increase in strength.
"Breaking through to the fourth layer in half a day, and at the same time, my realm has also improved slightly. This is really good!"
Li Yan's face was filled with joy as he muttered to himself.
In half a day, the "Qiongqi Purgatory Art" had broken through to the fourth layer, and the bottleneck of the Mid-stage Nascent Soul had also loosened a little.
Although he was still far from the peak of the Mid-stage Nascent Soul, to be able to improve at this level, even if it was just a little, was something he couldn't ask for.
Li Yan knew that this seemingly easy step was the result of his long-term accumulation.
On one hand, he had reached the third layer of the "Qiongqi Purgatory Art" a long time ago, but he still practiced it repeatedly on a daily basis. Although it couldn't help him break through to the fourth layer, it would make his foundation more solid.
In addition, Li Yan had later refined several drops of "Undead Nether Phoenix" essence blood, which had made his flesh, bones, and meridians reach, or even exceed, the cultivation requirements of the fourth layer of the "Qiongqi Purgatory Art."
Even the pain during cultivation was much less than when he cultivated each layer before. With such a foundation, all Li Yan lacked was the cultivation route. Everything was a matter of course.
Li Yan looked around. There was no place for him to test his strength here.
But the next moment, Li Yan's figure suddenly disappeared from his original spot. In the cultivation chamber, dozens of Li Yan's figures appeared in an instant. They made sharp turns at large angles, drawing a series of afterimages in the room.
Everything was as smooth as flowing water, without any sense of stagnation.
Within a short five breaths, several hundred figures of Li Yan had appeared in the entire cultivation chamber. Finally, when Li Yan stood back in his original position, those afterimages were still disappearing one by one.
"In five breaths, the speed of 'Phoenix Soars to the Heavens' has increased by more than ten percent. And when stopping and turning at extreme speed, the body's tolerance has also become a little easier.
Although the power of the 'Undead Nether Phoenix' essence blood is also used inadvertently, the overall strength of the physical body has increased! Next, let's see how long it takes to advance to the fifth layer."
Amidst the disappearing afterimages, Li Yan touched his chin with his hand, estimating the extent of his improvement in his heart.
In the following period, Li Yan began to practice even more diligently!
More than twenty days later, Li Yan, who was in the middle of cultivating, suddenly had his expression change. He returned his breath to his Dantian sea and immediately stopped cultivating.
Bare-chested, he circulated the magical power in his body, and all the sweat on his body disappeared. Immediately, a black long robe appeared on his body.
When he arrived outside the cultivation chamber, a voice transmission talisman was flying around randomly within the restriction outside the room. He grabbed it from a distance and immediately immersed his Divine Sense into it. An old voice immediately entered his mind.
"Daoist Li, could you come to the 'Heavenly Dawn Hall' for a moment!"
It was the voice of the Grand Elder.
Li Yan pondered for a moment, and seemed to have already guessed the reason in his heart. So he strode out of the house.
...
In the "Heavenly Dawn Hall," when Li Yan entered, he found that there were already five people sitting here, one of whom surprised him somewhat.
Besides the Grand Elder, the Second and Third Elders were also present. There was another person sitting next to the Second Elder, whom Li Yan did not recognize.
And what surprised Li Yan a little was the nun Hong Yin, whose figure was somewhat illusory, sitting not far from the Grand Elder.
When they saw Li Yan come in, their expressions were all different. Except for the Fifth Elder, the others all nodded at Li Yan.
The Fifth Elder seemed to have a wooden expression. He only glanced at Li Yan before looking away, not saying a word, leaving people to wonder what he was thinking.
The Grand Elder looked at Li Yan with a smile and was the first to speak.
"Daoist Li, I apologize for disturbing your cultivation by asking you to come over. Please forgive me! Oh, you have met the others. That is the Fifth Elder of the clan."
"You're too kind, Grand Elder!"
Li Yan said politely.
He looked at the positions of the people in the hall and also glanced at the Fifth Elder. That person also glanced at him before immediately looking away, as if he didn't want to bother with him.
Seeing this, Li Yan had a thought in his mind and walked towards the Third Elder's side. Soon, he sat down next to her.
When the Third Elder saw Li Yan walk over, her beautiful eyes were filled with a smiling expression, which made Li Yan feel a little uncomfortable.
Li Yan couldn't help it. In the hall, the Grand Elder and Hong Yin were both at the head.
Perhaps everyone here already knew Hong Yin's original identity. Even if her cultivation had greatly fallen and she had lost her physical body, a Spirit Transformation cultivator was still a Spirit Transformation cultivator. They showed the respect they should.
After the two sides had reached a cooperation agreement, plus the relationship with Gong Chenying, the Tianli Clan would naturally not be stingy with the due respect and would not do anything to displease people.
Below these two people, the Second and Fifth Elders sat in a row, and the Third Elder sat opposite the Second Elder, with a somewhat targeted meaning.
In fact, this was indeed the case. The clan was dominated by the Gong and Miao surnames. Inadvertently, during daily discussions, both sides would subconsciously sit in their respective groups.
Li Yan certainly didn't want to sit below the Fifth Elder. Just looking at that face, he was too lazy to get close to him. Naturally, he sat on the Third Elder's side.
And the Third Elder, whenever she saw Li Yan, always liked to look at him a few more times.
Although he didn't know if the other party was surprised by some of his methods, or if it was the nature of the Tianli Clan women, Li Yan always felt a little uncomfortable being stared at by her.
He couldn't just stare back at her undulating figure, could he?
Fortunately, after seeing Li Yan sit down, the Grand Elder had already continued to speak.
"Shanhe, the Fourth Elder, and the Sixth Elder are all in seclusion. Their recovery may take some time, so they did not come!"
He spoke to explain why Gong Shanhe had not come. Li Yan looked up at the Grand Elder and nodded. He didn't feel anything about this.
Gong Shanhe and the others had only been back for a little over twenty days. No matter how many clan matters there were, he couldn't just not recover from his injuries. Only after his strength was restored could he bear more risks.
Li Yan's gaze once again swept past Hong Yin. He was still a little strange. He could roughly guess the reason why the Grand Elder had called him over, but why did he ask Hong Yin to come over? Was it to hear her opinion on that matter?
But when his gaze swept past Hong Yin, Hong Yin also looked at him and said something that surprised Li Yan a little.
"Chenying is comprehending the cultivation method I taught her and cannot come!"
Everyone in the hall was stunned for a moment before they reacted. Hong Yin was saying this to Li Yan. It seemed Hong Yin had also confirmed the Dao Companion relationship between Li Yan and Gong Chenying.
At the same time, in Hong Yin's view, Gong Chenying was qualified to participate in this meeting.
'This new master of Sixth Senior Sister is very satisfied with her. Otherwise, she wouldn't have explained it so separately. She must care about Sixth Senior Sister a lot. Is it love for the house extending to the crow?'
Li Yan thought to himself.
And at the same time, he also saw the reactions of the others after hearing this sentence. The Second Elder didn't have much of a reaction, but the face of the Fifth Elder seemed to have darkened a little.
"Heh! It was you who hid Sixth Senior Sister's letter, and you still have that punchable look. I'll have to find a chance to settle this score!"
Li Yan's face was impassive. He had always been a vengeful person and had been holding a grudge about that matter. Now, the other party's expression fell into his eyes again, which made the smiling Li Yan think about the other party even more.
This was also the result of the Fifth Elder not deliberately concealing it. This Fifth Elder already had a grudge against Li Yan for disrupting some of their plans after his arrival.
And he also felt that the Second Elder and the others had exaggerated Li Yan's cultivation. Slaying an opponent of the same rank? He could do that because he had appeared rashly with the momentum of the situation, the right time and place.
And Li Yan was already calculating in his heart when he would find an opportunity to have a good "chat" with this person.
Although one should not underestimate any cultivator, the other party was at the initial-stage Nascent Soul and had been recuperating for so many years after being beaten by Yan San and the others. With such an ability, Li Yan could roughly guess it with his eyes closed.
"Hehehe... I have invited Daoist Li to come and discuss a way to deal with the beasts at the bottom of the swamp. Given that Fellow Daoist Hong Yin is very familiar with the situation of the 'Yin Mountain Beast,' I also invited her to come and see if she has any good suggestions for our clan's reference.
At the same time, Daoist Li has also been to the bottom of the swamp, seen the situation there, and even fought with the avatar of that Fifth-rank 'Yin Mountain Beast.' Of course, we need to hear Daoist Li's opinion.
These are all matters of my Tianli Clan. To invite you two over is to trouble you, Daoist Li and Fellow Daoist Hong Yin."
The Grand Elder explained the reason for asking Li Yan and the others to come over.
However, as soon as the Grand Elder's voice fell, the Fifth Elder, with a wooden and gloomy face, suddenly interjected.
"Grand Elder, you are being too polite. Fellow Daoist Hong Yin is our guest elder and is currently recuperating. These are naturally troublesome matters.
But this Daoist Li is the 'Qing A Wang.' From any point of view, he is one of our own. If there is something he can do, would he be stingy with his methods?"
As soon as he said this, the Grand Elder frowned, but Li Yan's expression remained as usual.
'This guy is putting a big hat on me as soon as he comes up. Does he want me to help for free later? Hasn't he been beaten enough after his serious injury has just healed?'
However, Li Yan's expression remained impassive. After the Fifth Elder finished speaking, he also spoke with a smile.
"What the Fifth Elder said is right. I am indeed one of our own. If there is anything, Grand Elder, please feel free to speak. If I can do it, I will naturally help. Since we are our own people, there is nothing that cannot be said."
When Li Yan said "our own people," he deliberately emphasized his tone. He had been guessing the purpose of the Grand Elder calling him over when he came.
Now that the Second Elder was setting a trap for him, if you want me to be generous later, I'll go along with you. "Our own people," right? Hehehe, you'll have to be generous to me then.
After hearing Li Yan's words, a sharp glint quietly flashed in the Fifth Elder's eyes. He did not continue to speak, while the Second Elder had been silent all along.
The Second Elder now also knew that this Li Yan was a deep schemer and had a sharp tongue. He was definitely a difficult person to deal with. He didn't want to engage in a war of words before it came to substantive issues and interests.
"Fellow Daoist Hong Yin, according to Shanhe, it was you who personally suppressed that Fifth-rank 'Yin Mountain Beast' back then. I take the liberty of asking, besides relying on your powerful cultivation, does it have any other weaknesses that my clan can exploit?
Can we take advantage of the fact that he has not yet awakened to cast a spell to suppress him again, or is there any other way to delay his awakening so as to buy time for my clan's migration."
The Grand Elder immediately got to the point.
Hong Yin had long known the purpose of asking her to come over and had already thought about it. She answered almost without consideration.
"With your clan's current cultivator strength, it should be impossible to suppress it directly! Unless you still have high-grade magical treasures refined by Spirit Transformation cultivators from before, and they are of the ultimate yang and firm attribute!
As for delaying time? Although there are methods, they also require corresponding conditions. The 'Yin Mountain Beast' is an extremely cold and yin creature, not comparable to these three beast clans.
If there were four or more Buddhist Nascent Soul senior monks, or Confucian Nascent Soul cultivators, with their combined efforts, using Buddhist divine abilities or the power of Righteous Qi.
While it is still in its slumber, if they cast a spell again, it might be possible to slow down the speed at which it absorbs the yin and cold 'Heaven's Eye Wind' from under the swamp.
At that time, it should also be possible to suppress it for another five to ten years.
As for the weakness of the 'Yin Mountain Beast,' as I said before, it is an extremely yin and cold attribute. Confucian Righteous Qi and Buddhist cultivation methods are its greatest counters.
Your Tianli Clan follows the two immortal path methods of witchcraft and body cultivation. You can use the ultimate yang arts in witchcraft to suppress it.
For example, I know of the 'Grand Furnace Seven-Light Wood' refining technique in witchcraft. This type of witchcraft can also suppress it, but without a Spirit Transformation cultivator, it would also require several great shamans to act together.
Body cultivation methods are fine for dealing with other beasts, but for the 'Yin Mountain Beast,' you can only subdue it with strength after you have become powerful enough.
Although most body cultivators follow a fierce and powerful path, it only makes their own qi and blood strong and full of yang energy. It is not a true attribute counter!"
After Hong Yin said this, she stopped and said no more.
Her meaning was clear. The "Yin Mountain Beast" was not easy to deal with. Back then, even with the power of the "Red Whisk Temple," they could only suppress and seal it, not kill it. How could a Tianli Clan without a Spirit Transformation cultivator hope to do so?