"Three years from now, if there are no problems with the seal, A'die and the others will also stop focusing so much on the Yin Mountain Beast . That's when I'll propose the matter of the 'Qing A Wang' ceremony!"
Gong Chenying gently bit her lip, revealing two pearly white teeth as she spoke softly. A blush crept up from her neck to behind her ears.
"Regarding the seal, I am at least sixty percent confident!"
Li Yan knew that the Tianli Clan was still in a state of unease and would not be in the mood to hold a grand ceremony for them. This process would take at least a few years.
Li Yan also spoke softly, but he was talking about the seal. He had never made such a guarantee to anyone else.
"Mm!"
Hearing Li Yan's soft words, Gong Chenying's heart eased even more.
Li Yan was a cautious person. When he said something with the nature of a promise, it was usually because he was very confident. If he said sixty percent, Gong Chenying believed it was at least seventy percent.
Gong Chenying lifted her head from Li Yan's shoulder.
"By the way, there's something you don't know yet because you hadn't obtained the last three layers of the Qiongqi Purgatory Art , and clan rules forbade me from telling you."
"Now that the Great Elder has set a five-year deadline with you, and you'll be able to get the seventh layer then, I can tell you some of it first."
"The inheritance of the last three layers is not simple. It can't be cultivated just by a jade slip with the technique recorded on it. One must enter our clan's ancestral land to receive the inheritance."
Li Yan was stunned to hear this.
"I must enter your ancestral land? Are there some conditions for cultivating the last three layers?"
"That… I don't know. Only when a clansman is truly about to cultivate the seventh layer are they permitted to enter. Someone like A'die has never entered, so he doesn't know either."
"However, when you proposed the conditions for obtaining the last three layers, the Great Elder didn't object. Does that mean one only needs to enter the ancestral land to comprehend the inheritance, and not necessarily to cultivate inside?"
"Before permission is granted, not a single word of these clan rules can be revealed. And I don't know much either…"
An apologetic look appeared on Gong Chenying's face. The people of the Tianli Clan would never violate their clan rules, and she was no exception.
In fact, for her to do this before Li Yan was truly about to be taught the seventh layer was also a violation. But the Tianli Clan already had an agreement with Li Yan, and he would eventually be her Dao Companion , so she still revealed what little she knew.
Li Yan's mind raced.
'I have to enter the Tianli Clan's ancestral land to cultivate the last three layers? Will my future cultivation be restricted? It should be as Sixth Senior Sister said, just for the inheritance and comprehension?'
Li Yan was always exceptionally cautious about the unknown.
Evidently, Gong Chenying had considered his worries beforehand and had thus proposed another possibility: that he wouldn't need to cultivate inside, but only needed to enter to receive the inheritance of the cultivation method.
This explanation was very plausible. For many high-level cultivation methods, in order to strictly prevent them from being leaked during inheritance, they would be restricted to certain conditions. They could not be recorded onto jade slips and could only be comprehended by observing the original version.
Or perhaps they couldn't be recorded at all and had to be passed down through treasures like Image-Retaining Walls.
This way, the cultivation method could be protected from being leaked to the greatest extent possible. Of course, for every spear, there is a shield. Any restrictive measure would have a corresponding way to be broken; there was no such thing as an absolute guarantee against leakage.
"It's still too early to worry about it now. I'll find out when the time comes."
For the moment, Li Yan couldn't think of any other possibilities, so he set the matter aside in his heart for now.
Immediately after, he took out a small porcelain bottle.
"Now that the sealing of the fifth-rank Yin Mountain Beast is done, I've already used a drop of essence blood , and I'll be able to get the last three layers of the cultivation method. This remaining…"
But before Li Yan could finish, Gong Chenying was already shaking her head repeatedly.
"Little Junior Brother, you mustn't mention this again. What I lack to advance to the Nascent Soul is not a powerful physical body or a dharma cultivation method, but the tempering of my state of mind. If you can form your Nascent Soul, I certainly can too!"
"If you can achieve Spirit Transformation in the future, I believe I can as well. My immortal fortune is not just limited to what's in front of me…"
In the end, Gong Chenying absolutely refused the drop of essence blood. Li Yan was helpless. This was a supreme treasure of the world. If others knew about it, they would kill to get their hands on it, yet his Sixth Senior Sister refused it no matter what.
You can't force a gift on someone. Even if you shoved it into her hands, what could you do if she refused to refine it?
Li Yan also understood his Sixth Senior Sister's thoughts. The Undead Nether Phoenix essence blood was too precious; she was completely unwilling to take away an immortal fortune that belonged to him.
Moreover, Gong Chenying always maintained a strong heart. She firmly believed she had her own immortal fortune. She could accept treasures gifted to her, but it depended on the situation.
In truth, Gong Chenying was thinking of much more. She knew that Li Yan had already refined seven drops of Undead Nether Phoenix essence blood.
If she only refined this single drop, it might enhance her physical strength a little, but the effect would not necessarily be as great as when Li Yan refined it.
Li Yan had refined several drops before, and the bloodline would have an accumulative strengthening effect. It might even stimulate new innate divine abilities of the Undead Nether Phoenix.
This would definitely help Li Yan overcome the most difficult hurdle in the lower realm—the late-stage Nascent Soul. This was the main reason she refused.
Seeing that Li Yan was still struggling with it, Gong Chenying's beautiful eyes flashed, and she directly changed the subject, starting to talk about other things.
"Little Junior Brother, including the time it took to cross realms, you've been away from the Desolate Moon Continent for quite some time. Have you thought about Junior Sister Min?"
Holding the exquisite porcelain bottle, Li Yan froze. Then, he actually didn't know how to answer. He thought to himself.
'You definitely know I miss Min'er, but how should I answer? I miss her, or I don't?'
The mountain wind blew. Gong Chenying looked at Li Yan, her smile blooming like a flower, causing the world around them to lose its color. It was as if, in all of heaven and earth, there was only the smiling beauty!
…
Three months later, the Great Elder, the Fourth Elder, Yan San, and Li Yan returned from the swamp. This time, Hong Yin and Gong Chenying had gone with them.
Under Hong Yin's spell, everyone except Gong Chenying and Li Yan, who stood at a distance, approached the Fifth-rank Yin Mountain Beast. Each of them used their divine sense to probe it carefully, over and over again…
Although Yan San remained expressionless, there was clearly a new color in his eyes when he looked at the human cultivators. He could also see that these people were equally worried about the result of the seal, which reassured him quite a bit.
The moment the Fourth Elder entered the seal, he had his confirmation at first glance, as an extremely ferocious and vicious aura rushed towards him.
He even felt his hands and feet go weak, and the magical power in his body began to lose control, its circulation slowing and stiffening…
Finally, the effect of the current seal and the rank of the Wind Beast were confirmed. This time, the Fourth Elder expressed no further objections.
If he still dared to express doubt, Hong Yin would probably make him personally touch the ferocious beast to test it.
Everyone could see the impatient look in Hong Yin's eyes. After she had personally confirmed the Yin Mountain Beast's identity, for others to still have doubts was to doubt her abilities.
In her view, this was questioning everything she had said.
After confirming this matter, they agreed with Yan San on the next time to visit, which would be six months later.
If after half a year, the seal still had no problems, then the interval for future inspections would become one year, and the intervals would grow longer and longer thereafter.
After returning to the clan, Li Yan announced that he would be entering seclusion for a period of time. Gong Shanhe had already given him the jade slip for the sixth layer of the cultivation method.
He also made it clear to Li Yan that as long as the seal was stable for three years, they would hold the "Qing A Wang" investiture ceremony for him and Gong Chenying.
The generations-old feud with the Wind Beasts could not be eliminated so quickly, but everything was developing in a good direction. The two sides had already conducted several more trades, and both were very satisfied.
This time, however, Hong Yin and Gong Chenying did not return together. At Hong Yin's suggestion, Gong Chenying stayed with her in the swamp underground. Hong Yin chose a place and began a training and tempering session specifically for Gong Chenying.
Neither Gong Shanhe nor Li Yan had any objections to this. The environment in the swamp was harsh, but without the threat of the fifth-rank Wind Beast, it was actually an excellent place for training.
For this reason, before they left, Gong Shanhe spent a considerable amount of his personal fortune to prepare some soul-nourishing medicinal pills for Hong Yin, lest she run out of power after making a move in case of danger.
…
Li Yan entered a short period of seclusion.
Inside the pavilion, Li Yan's divine sense first swept through the Earthen Patch . He found that Qian Ji and Zi Kun were still cultivating, their auras stable, which set his mind at ease.
He wanted the two demons to increase their strength as soon as possible so they could better help him, but he also feared they would be too eager for quick success and lose their state of mind , which would be counterproductive.
"A little over two years, is it?"
Li Yan sat cross-legged in the room, beginning to plan his cultivation. There were only three years until the "Qing A Wang" investiture ceremony, but he would definitely have to come out of seclusion early.
Therefore, he had to think carefully about how to use these two-plus years to make up for his current shortcomings.
In the past three months, Li Yan and Gong Chenying had put everything else aside. Every day, they either roamed the heavens and earth near the Tianli Clan or strolled along the mountain peaks and streams.
Gong Chenying had also let go of some of her reserve and was now able to hold hands with Li Yan without blushing for a long time. Occasionally, the two would share a light embrace, but that was as far as it went.
If he tried to go any further, Gong Chenying would become somewhat flustered, and Li Yan would rationally restrain himself. The Tianli Clan would also check a woman's chastity during the wedding ceremony.
Although the two would inevitably become Dao Companions, Li Yan didn't want Gong Chenying to be embarrassed during the wedding…
"I have the sixth layer of the Qiongqi Purgatory Art. It's time to break through to the sixth layer."
"The sixth layer corresponds to the mid and late stages of Nascent Soul. Especially when cultivated to the peak, one can step into the late-stage Nascent Soul. I'll see how far I can cultivate in these two-plus years…"
Currently, Li Yan's dharma cultivation path was steadily advancing. He cultivated the True Scripture of Gui Water whenever he had time, and also cultivated the Nine Cauldrons Gui Water to temper and refine his magical power.
His Body Refining Art , however, was starting to lag behind. One reason was that he previously only had the fifth layer of the Qiongqi Purgatory Art. The last drop of Undead Nether Phoenix essence blood was originally intended for Gong Chenying and had not yet been refined.
After thinking through his cultivation plan, Li Yan immediately took out a jade slip and submerged his divine sense into it. He quickly entered a state of comprehension…
…
Desolate Moon Continent, Malevolent Spirit Sect , Little Bamboo Peak . In the courtyard where Li Yan lived, a slender young girl was controlling the spirit power in her hands with a tense expression, looking completely focused.
The girl had fair skin and looked to be only eleven or twelve years old. Her black hair was tied into a long ponytail, and her tender, snow-white face already showed a hint of heroic spirit.
Her still slightly baby-fatted, round face had begun to show some smooth angles, faintly resembling Zhao Min .
At this moment, the girl's pair of extremely pure eyes were staring at the stone table in front of her. On the table was a box made of jade, transparent, with only a thumb-sized hole at the top.
The fair-skinned girl was currently condensing her magical power, continuously infusing spirit power through that hole.
Inside the transparent box, a Gu-insect about a foot long was rapidly scurrying back and forth. The Gu-insect was a mix of red and black spots, and its body was covered with fine, milky-white thorns.
Green juice occasionally seeped from its bloated body, giving it a very ferocious appearance. The Gu-insect was called the "Red Sore Bee Gu," and every one of its thorns carried a deadly poison.
A single first-rank Red Sore Bee Gu was enough to poison a Foundation Establishment cultivator to death. And the one in the box before her was shockingly already a second-rank demonic beast !