A smile blossomed on Gong Chenying's face, and she immediately stood up. Her Divine Sense also swept towards Li Yan; she wanted to see if his cultivation had also progressed after so many years in seclusion.
At this moment, Li Yan was not concealing his aura. The moment Gong Chenying's Divine Sense swept over him, a look of astonishment appeared on her lovely face.
"Junior Brother, you... you've become a Great Cultivator?"
Li Yan had already walked up to her.
"Yes!"
"You... how many years has it been since you advanced to the Nascent Soul stage? To break through to a Late-stage Nascent Soul Great Cultivator before the age of two hundred... in all the records I know of from the Desolate Moon Continent and the Wind God Continent, I've never heard of such a thing."
Gong Chenying's Divine Sense was still sensing the surging aura from Li Yan's body. She still couldn't believe what she was seeing.
Although she knew Li Yan was attempting to break through to the Late-stage Nascent Soul, this was a heavenly chasm that had trapped countless Mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivators.
Gong Shanhe, the Second Elder, and the Third Elder were all like that. They made attempt after attempt, only to fail time and time again. They could only use the slow, grinding effort of water on stone to inch forward.
Yet, Li Yan had been in seclusion for less than twenty years and had smoothly broken through to the Late-stage. It felt somewhat unreal.
"This is all thanks to Senior Sister. And aren't you the same? Hahaha..."
Li Yan looked at the jade-like beauty before him, his heart filled with extreme joy. With a great laugh, he took a step forward, scooped Gong Chenying into his arms, and strode towards the house.
"Junior Brother... you... you..."
Gong Chenying was truly startled by Li Yan's sudden action. By the time she reacted and realized what he intended to do, her face was flushed crimson, and she began to struggle slightly.
But her voice soon turned into muffled whimpers. Then, her entire Nascent Soul cultivation strength seemed to vanish, and her whole body grew hot and limp, losing all power to resist...
Several days later, Li Yan and Gong Chenying appeared inside the Tianli Hall.
Over the past few days, besides enjoying the blissful reunion with Gong Chenying, Li Yan had also taken the opportunity to test his current strength.
The range of his Divine Sense had broken through ten thousand li, reaching over eleven thousand li.
This instantly elevated Li Yan's Divine Sense to a level that surpassed the nine-thousand-li limit of a Late-stage Nascent Soul, reaching the intensity of an ordinary Spirit Transformation cultivator.
Li Yan was mentally prepared for this. Just by looking at the height of his Nascent Soul miniature, he knew that besides his magical power, his Divine Sense had likely also surpassed the upper limits of the Nascent Soul stage.
The True Scripture of Gui Water had a function of strengthening his Divine Sense with every advancement, a feature that, as far as Li Yan knew, other cultivation methods lacked.
Although he had tested his Divine Sense after previous advancements, the feeling of it surging out for thousands of li like this gave Li Yan a sense of soaring through the heavens, free and unrestrained, a feeling of indescribable exhilaration.
The distance of his Nascent Soul's instantaneous movement had reached about fifty-eight hundred li, which was also about eight hundred li farther than that of a normal Great Cultivator's Nascent Soul.
This also meant that if he were to cast the "Quaking Cosmos" divine ability, his physical body could also instantly travel a distance of about four thousand li. It was terrifyingly powerful.
He didn't know if it was because he had started cultivating "Quaking Cosmos," but Li Yan found that his "Stealthy Night Art" had also developed an incredible new function.
Whenever he cast it, his body seemed to gain the power of a Nascent Soul cultivator vanishing into the void, instantly merging perfectly with his surroundings.
Li Yan didn't know if cultivators at the Spirit Transformation stage or above could see through his movements.
But he believed that even Nascent Soul cultivators who had mastered divine abilities like the "Heavenly Eye Power" would now have about a fifty percent chance of being unable to detect his presence.
This greatly expanded the usefulness of the "Stealthy Night Art"...
After confirming these things, Li Yan could truly be confident in his abilities, allowing him to be more precise and targeted when facing enemies in the future.
Inside the great hall, all the elders of the Tianli Clan were gathered. They had all rushed over after being notified by Gong Shanhe.
"Prince Yan, did you really break through to the Late-stage Nascent Soul?"
The Fifth Elder stared with wide eyes, his Divine Sense constantly scanning Li Yan, an expression of disbelief on his face. The others were the same.
Gong Shanhe and the Great Elder sat at the head of the hall, smiles on their faces. When he had received the voice transmission from his daughter, he'd had the same expression, and his heart had been unable to calm down for a long time.
And now, the time had come to pass on the subsequent parts of the "Qiongqi Purgatory Art" to Li Yan.
Therefore, he immediately went to inform the Great Elder of the news that Li Yan had come out of seclusion and had successfully broken through to the Late-stage.
After hearing this, the Great Elder took a long, deep breath only after several dozen breaths had passed.
He immediately had a secret discussion with Gong Shanhe, then convened a meeting with all the elders yesterday to discuss the matter, and today he had Li Yan and Gong Chenying come over.
"It was just a stroke of luck. I believe that all you elders will also advance by leaps and bounds on the Immortal Path, with a smooth journey ahead!" Li Yan said with a smile.
"I certainly wish it were as Prince Yan says, but I've been stuck at the Mid-stage for far too long! Now, I'm even a little jealous of you," the Third Elder, Sikou Zhanmei, said helplessly, rubbing her temples. Her goal was to become the Great Sacrificial Priest, but she had been stuck at the Mid-stage for nearly three hundred years, her cultivation progressing as if she were treading on thin ice.
They had actually known about Li Yan's advancement to a Late-stage Great Cultivator yesterday, but they hadn't seen him with their own eyes. Today, upon seeing the abyssal, ocean-like aura emanating from him, they were truly shocked.
"The Third Elder cultivates both witchcraft and body refining, so it's normal for progress to be slow. After passing through this bottleneck period, you will surely soar to the heavens. I believe that day is not far off!" Li Yan also said seriously. It was inherently difficult to advance in dual dharma-body cultivation, so being stuck for two or three hundred years was considered normal.
Afterward, the other elders also came forward to congratulate him one by one, and Li Yan thanked them all.
"Alright, all the elders are here today, and Prince Yan is here as well. There is one matter I wish to discuss with Prince Yan. The seal has remained intact, and the time to pass on the seventh layer of the inheritance to Fellow Daoist Li has passed. Therefore, after discussion among our clan's elders, we plan to impart the final three layers of the cultivation method to Prince Yan in their entirety in the coming days!"
The Great Elder looked at Li Yan with a smile, but his words made both Li Yan and Gong Chenying's expressions freeze.
A few breaths later, Li Yan said, a little uncertainly, "The... the final three layers?"
Immediately, he saw the smiling expressions of the other elders. Li Yan and Gong Chenying exchanged a glance, instantly understanding that these people had already discussed it.
There was a time when the cultivation method was so difficult to obtain, when merely mentioning the matter would lead to a tense, confrontational situation. Now, it had become so easy. With a single word from the Great Elder, it was unanimously approved.
The Fourth Elder chuckled, revealing his signature smile.
"Hehehe... what's past is past. The seal is perfectly fine, and Fellow Daoist Hong Yin even reinforced it before she left. Since Prince Yan has come out of seclusion, there's no need to waste any more time."
When they were summoned by the Great Elder yesterday, it was to discuss this very matter. Ever since Li Yan had gone out to avenge the Second and Fifth Elders, risking his life, that act of kindness had dissolved all dissatisfaction. Nothing was greater than a debt of life and death.
And when they heard that Li Yan had broken through to the Late-stage Nascent Soul and become a Great Cultivator, they instantly understood the intentions of the Great Elder and Gong Shanhe.
The old Li Yan was already a force to be reckoned with. Now that he was a Late-stage Nascent Soul Great Cultivator, and with their clan lacking a Spirit Transformation cultivator, Li Yan, with his status as "Qing A Wang," was to be irrevocably tied to their war chariot.
Li Yan was an intelligent man. Seeing the expressions on everyone's faces, he understood everything. He clasped his hands towards the crowd.
"In that case, I, Li, thank you all!"
With the cultivation method now seemingly within his grasp, Li Yan felt a little unaccustomed to it for a moment.
"Alright. If Prince Yan is free today, then I shall take you to the ancestral land. What do you think..."
As the Great Elder spoke, his gaze swept over Gong Chenying before finally resting on Li Yan.
If the previous Gong Chenying was a ripe peach, she was now a succulent, water-beaded peach fresh after being washed.
She was so alluring that even a man with Li Yan's self-control, upon seeing her after his seclusion, had all his puritanical restraint vanish. He had then spent several consecutive days with her.
Gong Chenying, too, was "assertive," and in the end, it was she who had started to take the "upper hand"...
Seeing the Great Elder's sweeping gaze, Gong Chenying's face immediately flushed with a rosy cloud. She lowered her head and said no more.
Li Yan coughed awkwardly, thinking to himself, 'A Ying's father is still here! Is this the kind of personality you Tianli people have?'
He immediately spoke up to break the somewhat strange atmosphere.
"Ahem, no problem, no problem at all. I am ready anytime!"
...
This was a somewhat dim space. The dome above was a yellow sky, devoid of a sun, moon, or clouds—just a simple expanse of yellow, like an alternate dimension in a foreign land.
The space here was vast; Li Yan's Divine Sense could extend out for three thousand li.
But it was immediately met with lines of faint yellow light, like the rising sun on the horizon, which instantly repelled his Divine Sense.
Of course, without knowing the situation, Li Yan wouldn't forcibly push his Divine Sense into those yellow lights.
At this moment, he and the Great Elder were walking on a stone path wide enough for thirty people to walk abreast. On both sides stood rows upon rows of statues, stretching densely backwards.
They were statues of many people and demonic beasts, each with a different expression. From the clothing on the human statues, Li Yan could tell they were likely members of the Tianli Clan.
The sound of their footsteps echoed in this space, making it feel even more vast and secluded. Under the yellow sky, it felt as if only the two of them, small and insignificant, existed, with the rest being just rows of lifeless statues.
"You've figured it out?" the Great Elder's aged voice sounded, accompanying their footsteps and echoing far into the distance.
"These human statues are members of the Tianli Clan?"
"Yes, and that includes the demonic beasts. They all gave their lives for the continuation of the Tianli Clan. There are even some mortal warriors here. For them to be here is an honor for their families and clan lineages. However, ninety-nine percent of those who died fighting the Wind Beasts on the battlefield cannot enter this place, including those who fell like the Second Elder. A statue cannot be erected for him. Those who can come here must be individuals or demonic beasts who guided a crucial battle, who profoundly influenced the entire Tianli Clan, either leading us out of a predicament or towards a brighter future."
The Great Elder's aged voice continued to echo through the space. Li Yan seemed lost in thought.
"Like that 'Brightness Eagle,' Mid-stage third-rank, the companion spirit beast of the ninth-generation Third Elder. In its final battle, at the Third Elder's request, it went to assist a squad of cultivators in defending the front line. When everyone else had fallen in battle, it, without receiving an order to retreat from the Third Elder, continued to fight on alone, its body covered in countless wounds. It single-handedly held off a squad of 'Wind Goose Beasts' for four hours. During those four hours, its physical body had long since been torn apart, but as a member of the 'Brightness Eagle' clan, it cultivated the way of the soul. With just its tattered soul, it engaged the enemy in a protracted battle until reinforcements arrived, at which point it launched its final charge! It burned what little remained of its soul, and with a final, soaring cry, it transformed into a flame of brightness and plunged into the flock of 'Wind Goose Beasts'... Here, we can put aside its battle record. The inspiration it gave to the clansmen is irreplaceable. It is a peerless, proud god of war..."
The Great Elder casually pointed to a statue of a giant eagle in the first row to the side, seemingly poised to take flight with a fierce glint in its eyes, as he explained.