Aboard the Cloud-Piercing Willow , Qian Ji and Zi Kun stood behind Li Yan, while Gong Chenying stood beside him. They, too, were flying swiftly back toward the clan.
"Master, what was the final result?" Qian Ji glanced at Gong Chenying and was the first to ask. One had to be perceptive. It was obvious that Mistress Ying also had questions in her eyes and was pondering the matter, but her disposition kept her from asking immediately.
"It shouldn't just be a seal that will last a few years; it should be a complete seal. The reason it can't be confirmed just yet is that we need to check on it periodically over the coming years. If there's no change to the seal in three to five years, then we can truly confirm its success!" Li Yan explained softly. Only then did the three understand. No wonder neither side had answered about the result of the sealing just now.
After Gong Chenying asked a few more questions and received a definitive answer from Li Yan, she finally set her mind at ease.
'Generations of endless, ceaseless war… is it finally coming to an end?' As she looked at Li Yan again, a torrent of emotions rushed into her heart, and for a moment, she felt as if she were in a trance…
Li Yan, meanwhile, turned to the two demons and began asking about the defensive formation ahead. Only after confirming that there were no issues did he relax.
Although they had now reached a basic truce with the Wind Beasts , the necessary caution still had to be maintained.
"Good. The contract with Yan San and the others is showing its initial effects. You two don't need to stay at the front anymore. Go back and rest for a while!" Li Yan instructed the two demons.
Qian Ji and Zi Kun exchanged a glance. They had actually been cultivating the entire time. Even at the front, with the recent lull in Wind Beast attacks, they had been cultivating ceaselessly within the Gate of Life in the formation.
The gap in strength between them and Li Yan had grown far too wide, a feeling that made the two demons feel increasingly useless.
In truth, they had been cultivating diligently. In recent years, they had both advanced a minor realm. Zi Kun had reached the peak of the late-third rank, while Qian Ji was at the mid-third rank, already sensing an impending breakthrough to the late stage.
This speed was already quite fast. If Qian Ji were still in the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda , he would likely be at the Foundation Establishment stage at most, or perhaps already dead.
Li Yan had urged the two to cultivate because he sensed that as his own strength increased, the dangers he faced were also growing more numerous. He naturally hoped the two could reach the fourth rank soon, as only then could they truly be of assistance to him.
This time, when Li Yan left the Tianli Clan , the two demons were left behind with another mission, but to put it bluntly, it was because their strength was insufficient.
They were bound to Li Yan by a master-servant blood contract . If Li Yan were to die, the two demons would perish instantly. If they had been strong enough, they would have certainly been by Li Yan's side this time, increasing the certainty of him sealing the Wind Beast.
The mere thought of Li Yan's terrifying mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivation made the two demons feel that they were weaker than weak, and a yearning for greater power surged within their hearts.
"Master, I'll return to the clan on the mountain peak!"
"I'll go to the far western desert!"
As the two demons spoke, their figures vanished from the Cloud-Piercing Willow . They had communicated via Divine Sense and entered the Earthen Patch on their own.
Seeing that the two were unwilling to rest, Li Yan said no more and let them be. In fact, he was already considering releasing them from the master-servant blood contract. As it stood, they no longer posed any threat to him.
"Let's go to Tianli Hall as well!" Li Yan said softly to Gong Chenying. Though he might not receive the subsequent cultivation methods immediately upon completing this mission, he at least wanted to see the matter through to the end and observe the final reaction of the Tianli Clan elders.
Gong Chenying remained silent. Since seeing Li Yan, her heart had been put at ease, but after learning the result, her thoughts had become even more complex.
When Li Yan received no response after speaking, he couldn't help but look at Gong Chenying beside him, only to find her with her head lowered, seemingly lost in thought.
"Sixth Senior Sister!" Li Yan called out again.
"Oh… oh… what is it, Little Junior Brother?" Gong Chenying finally snapped back to reality upon Li Yan's second call.
"What were you thinking about?"
"Oh, oh… nothing… nothing at all!" A blush suddenly bloomed on Gong Chenying's cheeks. For a moment, she was like a beauty seated under a lantern, bathed in the falling petals of a spring day.
"Where are Qian Ji and Zi Kun?" Seeing Li Yan staring at her with a somewhat fiery gaze, Gong Chenying glanced around but didn't see the two demons. Her face flushed with shyness, she quickly changed the subject.
Unexpectedly, as soon as she asked, a strange expression appeared on Li Yan's face. Gong Chenying instantly knew that after completely relaxing, her thoughts had drifted to what might happen in the near future, and her heart had begun to race like a frightened fawn, causing her to lose track of what was happening around her.
Seeing Li Yan's expression, Gong Chenying's face burned even hotter. 'How did my thoughts wander from the clan's hardships and the potential relief from our suffering to… to what might happen to me now that I'm safe?'
…
In the sky above the battlefield, most of the people had already withdrawn in an orderly fashion following the Great Elder's command.
At this moment, five young men and women still stood on a mountain peak. Three of the young men watched the scene of Gong Chenying flying away side-by-side with that man. The handsome A Yuan's expression was the ugliest, while the other two also looked indignant.
"You have no way of competing with him. He's a powerhouse on equal footing with the elders!" Seeing the state of the three men, one of the two pretty young women covered her mouth and chuckled softly.
They were also from the Miao lineage and belonged to the same squad as A Yuan and the others. In recent years, they had often seen these high-spirited prodigies looking crestfallen whenever they saw A Ying. They felt a great deal of sympathy for them.
With the talent and abilities of these prodigies, A Ying would have surely married one of them in the future. But now, how could they possibly compare to that Senior Li?
He could kill them with a single breath. He was a Poison Cultivator , and a terrifying Nascent Soul level Grandmaster Poison Cultivator at that.
If one were to carefully calculate, the number of Wind Beasts that had died at his hands over the years was beyond counting. The thought of his methods sent a shiver down the spines of even these people, who had walked out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
The number of Wind Beasts they had killed in all these years combined was less than what he had poisoned in a few days. In some places, the corpses piled up like mountains; in others, it was even more terrifying—all the Wind Beasts that entered would vanish without a trace, as if swept away by a gust of wind.
"Hmph, some things are still hard to say. It might not be obtained so smoothly!" A Yuan suddenly muttered. His voice was not loud, but the other four heard him clearly. Even the two young men were startled.
"A Yuan, you… don't do anything reckless! Although we feel indignant that A Ying has been taken from us, it's just indignation. Compared to him, it's the difference between heaven and earth! If we anger him, even the Second Elder might not be able to protect us. After all, it's a foregone conclusion that he will become a 'Qing A Wang '. To act against him is to act against our own clansman, and that would be met with the most severe punishment under clan law," one of the young men said hurriedly. The other three nodded in agreement. Although A Yuan was favored by the Second Elder, he shouldn't think he could act recklessly and go against a Nascent Soul level "Qing A Wang." That would be challenging the dignity of a Nascent Soul powerhouse, a death wish!
A Yuan glanced at the four of them, a trace of gloominess flashing in the depths of his eyes, and he let out a cold snort in his heart.
Without another word, he flew toward the rear. The four exchanged glances, a hint of worry in their hearts.
…
Inside Tianli Hall, many people were already present when Li Yan and Gong Chenying arrived. All the elders of the Tianli Clan were present. Even the Sixth Elder, who had not been seen for a long time, had come out of seclusion. When he saw Li Yan enter the hall, he smiled and nodded in acknowledgment; his attitude toward Li Yan was naturally very good.
Li Yan also saw the Fifth Elder, who had been out searching for a new territory for relocation. The man merely swept a glance over him before looking away, ignoring him completely.
Li Yan paid it no mind. The Fourth Elder, on the other hand, was just like last time, smiling at Li Yan and even offering a greeting.
By now, Li Yan was basically clear on the personalities of these people, but on the surface, he maintained his usual calm demeanor.
Everyone took their seats. After waiting for a moment longer, a blurry figure appeared in the hall. In a flash, it drifted to an empty chair beside the Great Elder. It was the nun , Hong Yin .
As soon as she sat down, she glanced at Li Yan and Gong Chenying seated below and nodded slightly.
In the past, Gong Chenying rarely came to Tianli Hall. But ever since Li Yan arrived at the Tianli Clan, she was almost always present whenever a major event occurred.
Yet no one said anything about it. After all, the reason Li Yan was able to help the Tianli Clan was because of his connection to Gong Chenying.
Seeing that everyone had arrived, the Great Elder wasted no time.
"I have summoned you all to report the results of this trip. This time, after I, Fellow Daoist Li, and Yan San went over…" Soon, the Great Elder gave a simple and concise summary of the outcome.
After he finished, the Second Elder frowned.
"So, you're saying we still can't be certain if it has been completely sealed, and we also don't know how long the seal will last?"
"That's not an issue. We will go with Yan San and the others to confirm the seal periodically, either together or in turns. As long as there are no anomalies, it will be fine!" The Great Elder had naturally anticipated this and nodded as he spoke. This was also part of the consensus reached with Yan San.
"In that case, given this result, should we not also wait until it is truly confirmed before handing over the last three layers of the cultivation method to Fellow Daoist Li? Otherwise, who can say if this mission was truly a success?" Just then, the Fifth Elder spoke up slowly, his gaze sweeping across the hall.
As soon as he spoke, Li Yan's expression changed slightly. Every time the matter of the cultivation method came up, it was never smooth sailing. He himself had long grown tired of it.
But the Tianli Clan was treating their clan's supreme treasure with seriousness, so what could he say? It was just that seeing this scene play out time and time again had left Li Yan displeased.
Gong Chenying had been listening quietly, but now she, too, raised her head and looked at the Fifth Elder, a sharp glint flickering in her eyes.
She knew she could come, but she was also aware of her status, so she wouldn't normally speak up. But at this moment, she felt the Fifth Elder was being deliberate.
They were discussing the seal, and he suddenly brought up the Qiongqi Purgatory Art , forcefully shifting the topic to Li Yan.
Perhaps besides Gong Chenying, whose thoughts were usually purer, everyone else here, including Li Yan, was an old fox.
From the reactions of the Second Elder and the others, they could see that this was clearly a strategy they had discussed long ago. While they might not have known what the result of the sealing would be, they had absolutely planned ahead, formulating countermeasures for many different outcomes.
"Then how does the Fifth Elder wish to confirm it?" Li Yan's expression had returned to normal as he spoke faintly, but indignation had already taken root in his heart.
He had followed the clan rules and had genuinely helped the Tianli Clan. Yet these elders used the clan rules to restrain him time and again. He had yielded repeatedly, but today, after just a few words, it was happening again.
"First, we must confirm whether that Wind Beast is truly a Fifth-rank Yin Mountain Beast . Second, I feel that only after it has been sealed for at least three hundred years can we say the sealing was a success!" the Fifth Elder said, a barely perceptible sneer in his eyes.
"Oh? Both Yan San and the Great Elder have confirmed the aura on it far surpasses our own. Is that not enough? Or do you need me to wake it up so it can have a bout with the Fifth Elder?" Li Yan's voice remained calm and steady, betraying none of his thoughts.
"Fifth Elder, do you think I would mistake that ferocious beast? Do you also think Yan San is a fool, to believe us so easily?" the Great Elder's displeased voice rang out. He hadn't expected the Second Elder and his faction to stir up trouble at this moment, but they truly lacked the most convincing evidence. All of this required time to prove. The Fifth Elder simply shook his head.
"Great Elder, that's not what I mean. According to your earlier account, neither you nor Yan San witnessed the entire sealing process. It's not that I look down on Fellow Daoist Li, but aside from his magical treasures, is he really stronger than you and Yan San? Obviously not. But how could he get close to the eye of the wind, while you could not? Of course, he can say he has a Spirit Transformation level defensive treasure, but that's precisely the point. You never saw the body of that Fifth-rank Yin Mountain Beast at all. Although you saw it later, you also said, Great Elder, that because of Fellow Daoist Hong Yin's seal, you were unable to get close. Moreover, when Fellow Daoist Li finally appeared, he came from another direction. The entire process of pushing the Fifth-rank Yin Mountain Beast away from the eye of the wind was still unseen by anyone. In this world, there are such things as illusion formations, especially Nascent Soul level illusion formations!" Having said this, the Second Elder's lips curled downward, and he said no more.
His meaning was clear: it was all possibly a manipulation by Li Yan! The goal was to obtain the complete divine scripture of the Tianli Clan.
"I don't think this is a difficult matter. The few clones there have already dissipated, and the rest are just some mid and low-rank Yin Mountain Beasts. We just need Fellow Daoist Hong Yin to accompany us down to the swamp. Her confirmation will make everything clear. Fellow Daoist Hong Yin sealed the Wind Beast with her own hands back then; she would naturally be able to tell at a glance!" Gong Shanhe, seated like a high mountain, spoke in a deep voice. As he spoke, he glanced sideways at Hong Yin, who had remained silent all along.