Gong Chenying's gaze shifted from the exquisite jade bottle, and she stared seriously into Li Yan's eyes.
"Although I don't know where this essence blood came from, if you can get five or six more drops, I will accept these two drops!"
"Senior Sister, I am already at the Nascent Soul stage, but for you, this item can further temper your physical body, improve your cultivation, and lay a better foundation for forming your Nascent Soul later!" Li Yan immediately explained.
After hearing his explanation, a smile appeared on Gong Chenying's face.
"Since Junior Brother has said so, then what use is this thing to me? I have already cultivated the 'Qiongqi Purgatory Art' to the fifth layer, and my physical body is already equivalent to the Nascent Soul stage. What I lack is not the strength of my physical body, but the balance between my dharma and body cultivation, and the improvement of my state of mind!" After hearing Gong Chenying's words, a look of stagnation appeared on Li Yan's face, and he couldn't help but rub his nose.
'Senior Sister is not easy to fool!'
"That's that. When I really need this item, I will naturally ask for it! Little Junior Brother had better find an opportunity to refine them. Increasing your strength now will be of great help to your subsequent plans!" As Gong Chenying spoke, her body slowly flew to the side. Li Yan stood in place, watching Gong Chenying's disappearing back, just staring quietly ahead... In the middle of the night, a black shadow flashed out of Li Yan's pavilion and immediately merged into the vast night. The moment Li Yan flew out of the Tianli Clan's protective grand formation, several strands of Divine Sense swept over him.
After seeing clearly that it was Li Yan, several of them immediately dispersed, but the Grand Elder's old voice appeared in Li Yan's mind.
"If Daoist Li encounters any trouble outside, feel free to use your identity as our clan's 'Qing A Wang.' Our clan is not some minor sect on the Wind God Continent. We can still deter some riffraff." Li Yan paused for a moment and also replied via voice transmission.
"Thank you, Grand Elder!" What the Grand Elder said was of course the truth. Although the Tianli Clan was in trouble now, this was in the face of three, or even four, clans of beasts.
If it were some other sect, they might only be able to barely hold on against one clan of beasts.
The Tianli Clan had been an army of the whole people since ancient times. At this point, even the frail old people in the clan had terrifying combat power.
Just after Li Yan replied, the Third Elder's voice, like the tinkling of a spring, also instantly sounded in Li Yan's mind.
"Daoist Li, don't be gone for too long, A'ying is still waiting for you, giggle..." This time, Li Yan did not reply via voice transmission. He only cupped his hands slightly in a certain direction.
The other few strands of Divine Sense had already dispersed, and even Hong Yin did not speak again. A slight smile appeared on Li Yan's face. He glanced sideways in one direction, and then, his black figure had merged into the night.
The "Tidefall" and "Stealthy Night Art" in his body were activated at the same time. In an instant, Li Yan completely disappeared from this world. At this time, even if the Grand Elder sent out his Divine Sense again, he would not be able to detect Li Yan's existence.
After Li Yan concealed his aura, he flew south. He did not want Yan San and the others to know of his departure, so he still concealed his tracks to avoid being intercepted and killed on the way.
Li Yan did not take the two demons with him on this trip but left them in the Tianli Clan. At the same time, he also left a large number of the Snow Mosquito clan. He asked the two demons to protect Gong Chenying at ordinary times and to obey Gong Chenying's arrangements if anything happened.
Gong Chenying was also quite fond of the two demons, mainly because they were very good at reading people's expressions and acting accordingly, and they called her "Mistress Ying" with every other word. Although Gong Chenying was cold and beautiful on the surface, she was actually very happy in her heart. There was no one in this world who did not like to hear praise and flattery, especially the meaning represented by "Mistress Ying." Just before Li Yan left, he had looked in a certain direction. A slender figure floated quietly under the stars, like a lonely peak of a star-robed saintess.
"Little Junior Brother, if what you said can really come true, how wonderful would that be? The clansmen would live and work in peace, and the cultivators would cultivate quietly..."
...
Seventeen thousand li south of the Tianli Clan, although the mountains were still continuous here, the terrain was much gentler. There were no longer dangerous peaks and cliffs. The rolling peaks covered in lush greenery seemed much rounder.
Among these mountains, if one were to look down from the sky, one would find an endless stretch of red walls and great halls hidden among them.
That was a magnificent temple stretching for thousands of li, with patches of solemn and dignified pagoda forests and halls with red walls and golden roofs scattered in an orderly fashion. The upturned eaves would, in the twists and turns of one mountain peak after another, either reveal a large patch of golden light or a glimpse of an iceberg.
This was the renowned "Sand Gate Temple" on the Wind God Continent, a first-rate Buddhist immortal sect in this world! One evening, a faint green dot flew from the northern sky. Amidst the faint green light, Li Yan, who had stopped cultivating, stood with his hands behind his back, gazing ahead from atop the "Cloud-Piercing Willow." On the way here, he had been cultivating nonstop whenever he had time. The things he had to do later required greater strength, so he had to seize every moment to cultivate.
However, he had not refined a single drop of the two drops of "Undead Nether Phoenix" essence blood. He still wanted to leave them for Gong Chenying to use. Li Yan had not yet had a detailed talk with Gong Chenying about future matters. Of course, he was not sure if she would return to the Desolate Moon Continent with him. With Gong Chenying's personality, it was too hard to say, so Li Yan had to make sure she had the power to protect herself.
The journey of nearly twenty thousand li was quite smooth for Li Yan. Apart from encountering a few waves of beasts, which he killed with a casual wave of his hand, with Li Yan's current strength, as long as he did not deliberately provoke those behemoth sects, he could come and go as he pleased in this world.
If those mid-to-low-level cultivators wanted to provoke him, they first had to be able to find him, or, under the circumstances of Li Yan revealing his tracks, be able to catch up.
Li Yan would of course not be so bored as to bully the weak and deliberately show off his strength. With his powerful Divine Sense, he had basically avoided others long ago.
If it weren't for the fact that the beast territory was too large, he would have wanted to bypass it all the way. But in that case, he didn't know how many times longer it would take.
In Li Yan's field of vision, a wide square quickly magnified as it came into view. The square was at least about fifty li in size. The ground was not paved with blocks of huge stones, but was a single, huge, boundless block of stone that glowed with a yellow light.
The whole square gave people the feeling of a wide, yellow-orange mirror, like flowing molten gold.
After Li Yan landed on the square, the ground under his feet could even reflect a person's appearance. He took a step forward, but there was no sense of slipping under his feet. Instead, it seemed that there was a lot of resistance on the soles of his shoes, but it did not affect normal walking.
In front of Li Yan was a magnificent golden-yellow great hall. The hall was grand and imposing. Anyone standing on the square would have to look up at it, and a feeling would unconsciously arise in their hearts that they were like an ant in the square in front of the hall.
It was as if the golden-yellow hall in front was suspended high above their heads, capable of suppressing everything in the world, including their own small and humble lives. A sense of awe was born spontaneously.
Of course, none of this existed for Li Yan. He knew that this was the so-called deterrent power of a sect.
It not only contained the suppression of formation restrictions but also, during its construction, based on the momentum of the surrounding heaven and earth, it made the buildings or statues constantly give birth to a kind of great momentum.
Especially for Buddhist and Daoist sects, it even contained some power of incense and faith, making people feel a sense of wanting to prostrate themselves in worship.
In the center of the golden-yellow great hall were written three large, thin-bodied, gilded characters—"Sand Gate Temple"! From Li Yan's direction, this great hall seemed to be the only existence in this world, standing between heaven and earth, blocking all the pavilions and courtyard walls behind it, and it was the only one.
At this moment, lights would fly up or land on the square from time to time. After Li Yan landed, only a few people nearby glanced at him, their faces changing slightly before they flew away.
Although Li Yan did not reveal his Nascent Soul aura at this moment, there was a Golden Core cultivator with three Foundation Establishment disciples nearby. Their Divine Senses immediately swept over, but none of them could see Li Yan's cultivation.
And that Golden Core cultivator, after being glanced at by Li Yan, felt as if all the secrets in his body had been seen through by the other party with a single glance.
Under these circumstances, that person had originally planned to come over and ask some questions, but after a little hesitation, he looked up at the great hall above and immediately flew away with his people.
Li Yan could see that when these few people used their magical power, it was all a cultivation method of the ultimate yang and firm, with the aura of Buddhism.
"They should be the lay disciples in the Sand Gate Temple, but they are not a patrol squad!" Zhuo Lingfeng had told him that now, the real monks were few even in a major Buddhist sect like the Sand Gate Temple. They were still mainly lay disciples.
The place where Li Yan landed was only a thousand zhang from the great hall. Not far away was a flight of stairs leading up. Li Yan walked up the stairs as if no one was around, his steps unhurried. There were also many cultivators on the stairs.
It was just that the stairs were too wide. Perhaps it was intentional, but they were quite far apart from each other, all looking as if they didn't want to greet others.
Li Yan even saw a few mortals dressed in magnificent clothes. These people all had extraordinary bearing. Although their steps were unsteady, they also had a certain presence.
Li Yan had left from here back then and then went to the Tianli Clan. At that time, his Divine Sense had also vaguely heard some of the content of those mortals' conversations.
So he roughly knew the origins of these people. They should all be high-ranking officials and nobles from the mortal kingdoms. On the Wind God Continent, many mortals knew of the existence of immortals.
Therefore, in the kingdoms within the jurisdiction of the Sand Gate Temple, there were many devout believers. It might be difficult for ordinary mortals to come here to worship, but those officials or merchants with prominent status could easily reach here by hiring demonic beast mounts.
Although some people looked over, Li Yan ignored them. It was as if a cloud was supporting him from under his feet as he rose step by step.
Soon, Li Yan came to the front of the great hall. There was a square table at the entrance. The table was also covered with a golden-yellow cloth. On the table were simply placed a few tubes of long incense, red candles, and a set of brush, ink, paper, and inkstone.
Behind the square table sat a monk of about thirty years of age. The monk had a simple face and a medium build. But he did not ask about the people coming and going, but just sat behind the table, his hands pressed together, sitting quietly with his eyes closed.
Li Yan had also seen this situation when he was teleported here last time. It was just that last time, he had walked directly down the stairs and flown away from this place.
But this time, after stepping into the great hall, Li Yan walked straight towards the table. When Li Yan walked over, he deliberately made his footsteps a little heavier. When he was still a few feet away from the table, the monk behind the table had already opened his eyes.
But he just looked at Li Yan quietly. At the same time, a wisp of Divine Sense quietly swept towards Li Yan. The next moment, a sharp glint flashed in the monk's eyes. He could not sense what realm Li Yan's cultivation was at.
After a little deliberation, he still stood up. With his palms pressed together, he bowed slightly to Li Yan.
"Amitabha. May I ask this benefactor, what is the matter?" He was an attendant monk. Although there were people who came to him on a daily basis, it was not a lot. Most of his time was spent in meditation.
Most of the people who could reach here were familiar with the rules of the temple and basically did not need to ask about them.
The attendant monk could not sense Li Yan's realm, but he did not think that Li Yan's true cultivation was higher than his. There were too many magical treasures in the world that could conceal cultivation methods, especially since Nascent Soul cultivators did not appear so easily.
Li Yan smiled slightly in his heart. He was not concealing his cultivation at this moment, but the other party's cultivation was too shallow to perceive it. But this person was already the one with the highest cultivation in the great hall, at the Mid-stage Golden Core. Of course, he could only come to him.
As Li Yan smiled, his aura was slightly released towards this monk and then retracted. At the same time, he said softly.
"Thank you for your trouble, Great Master. I am looking for Chan Master Xuji. You can inform him that an old friend surnamed Li is visiting!" This time, Li Yan was following Zhuo Lingfeng's instructions from back then. After calculating the time, the other party was no longer on duty in that marketplace, so he came directly to the temple to find him.
That monk suddenly felt that he could no longer breathe. Just as he was greatly shocked, that pressure suddenly disappeared completely, and the people around him did not notice that a powerful pressure had just descended... In a meditation chamber, Zhuo Lingfeng and Li Yan sat opposite each other.
"I have come uninvited and disturbed the Great Master's cultivation!" Li Yan also pressed his hands together.
"Amitabha. There is no need for such courtesy between you and me, Daoist Li. I have heard that the Tianli Clan has stopped the continuous attacks of the beasts that have lasted for many years in the past few months. This is truly a joyous occasion. I congratulate you on this!" Zhuo Lingfeng said with a smile on his face and recited a Buddhist mantra. They had already received some news from the Tianli Clan and had also investigated the situation of the beasts there. They had been blocked by a line of potent poison defense.
Others might still be wondering when the Tianli Clan had become so powerful, but Zhuo Lingfeng had already guessed the reason. This was definitely related to Li Yan.
Although he did not know that Li Yan possessed the Fragmented Poison Body, he knew that he was a cultivator from the Malevolent Spirit Sect and had seen him act in the Huchen family back then.
Moreover, the timing of the three beast clans being blocked was so coincidental, just after Li Yan had gone over.
As for Gong Shanhe's return to the clan, Zhuo Lingfeng had not yet received the news. The Sand Gate Temple was also quite far from the Tianli Clan, and since they did not want to deal with the Tianli Clan, they would naturally not specifically collect news about them. To have news from them from a few months ago was already quite remarkable.
"It's just a temporary respite. I have come this time because I have a matter to trouble you with, Daoist Zhuo!" Li Yan got straight to the point. He didn't have much time to waste. Hearing this, Zhuo Lingfeng's face immediately became solemn.
He already had a guess in his heart. Was Li Yan asking him to help the Tianli Clan? If Li Yan asked, even if it would cause a disturbance among the beasts around the Sand Gate Temple, he would still help once.
But after this one time, the debt of gratitude he owed Li Yan from the past would be considered repaid.