Chapter 1347: Indifference as Before, Snow as at First

Seeing his junior sister’s reaction, Shangguan Tianque reached out and gently patted her on the shoulder, signaling her not to be angry.

“Of course. Did you ask Banjiang? He was the one who went to get him to act. Did Elder Li say anything else, or did he leave any words before entering seclusion again?”

When Li Yan had suddenly attacked, a wisp of their Divine Sense had followed him as he fell, and they had spotted the stunned Yu Banjiang near Li Yan’s cave residence. At the time, they had guessed that it was this disciple of theirs who had gone to find Li Yan. Although they each had other disciples, only Yu Banjiang knew of Li Yan’s existence. And he was willing to make any sacrifice for the sect. To go and find Li Yan while he was healing at a critical moment was something he was entirely capable of doing.

“I’ve already spoken with Banjiang. He just sent a voice transmission to Elder Li, tentatively asking if he could help. The other party only asked one question—if he could kill people—and then it was ascend, descend, close the door! He didn’t make any conditions in the end, just said not to disturb him if there was nothing important. That’s all.”

The woman in red said helplessly. The more Li Yan acted like this, the less she understood what he was thinking. Now, with the Blood Lantern Sect wanting to recruit him, her heart was even more unsettled. She worried that once Li Yan found out, he would suddenly make an exorbitant demand. If he didn’t get what he wanted, he would leave immediately. The terms they could offer certainly couldn’t compare to the Blood Lantern Sect’s.

“Then it’s fine. When he comes out of seclusion on his own next time, we’ll pay him a personal visit. I’ve also sent a message to the Blood Lantern Sect, explaining that Elder Li is still in seclusion and is not seeing anyone.”

Shangguan Tianque’s heart leaped with joy. His own junior sister had personally gone to send a voice transmission, and this Li Yan still wouldn’t come out. If the Blood Lantern Sect asked again, he could say that Li Yan was currently in seclusion and did not wish to see anyone.

“Then… at that time, will we really tell Elder Li about this?” the woman in red asked, a little worried. The gentle breeze lifted her beautiful hair. Her face was captivating, enough to topple nations.

“We must. Otherwise, if he finds out about this later, he will surely be angry! However, Junior Sister, you don’t need to worry. Although I’ve only met him twice, I can sense that he is a man who keeps his promises. Banjiang saved his life, and we provided the Immortalization Liquid. He understands these debts of gratitude!” Shangguan Tianque said softly. Though he was comforting the woman in red, in his heart, he wasn’t very confident. People’s hearts are not what they used to be.

“We’ve seen some lower-realm cultivators. They have strong combat power, but not to such an outrageous extent. He should still be injured, right? Or has he mostly recovered?” The woman in red had long wanted to discuss and assess Li Yan’s strength with someone. But with Shangguan Tianque away and Li Yan refusing to see her, she couldn’t get close enough to probe his aura. In her mind, she was constantly trying to gauge just how strong Li Yan was. On one hand, she was genuinely curious. On the other, only by clearly understanding Li Yan’s strength could she better utilize this person for the greatest benefit of the sect. At the end of the day, Li Yan was still just a guest elder. The woman in red always kept a certain reserve towards people, with the thought of using them in mind.

“It’s more than eighty percent certain that he is a body cultivator. I believe you can see this as well, Junior Sister. But the strength of lower-realm cultivators is undeniable; they are definitely stronger than many cultivators of the same rank. However, in that battle, he still mainly relied on surprise attacks. Plus, Mang Yan and the others didn’t expect such a situation at all, which is why we have the current outcome…”

Subsequently, the senior brother and junior sister began to discuss, and soon they turned to the matter of the Dragon-Catching Sect. Although they had unexpectedly taken over the other’s territory, defending these lands would be a huge headache…

Time waits for no one. The white clouds passed over the mountain peaks. In the blink of an eye, six years had passed since the great battle between the Broken Army Sect and the Dragon-Catching Sect.

On this day, in Li Yan’s cultivation chamber where he was in seclusion, his face was pale, and his clothes were soaked through as if he had been washed in water. In his hand, he held a delicate little jade bottle. Li Yan looked at the exquisite bottle in his hand while panting heavily. At this moment, waves of intense pain from his Sea of Consciousness made his body tremble uncontrollably. He could endure this pain, but he made no effort to control his body’s involuntary shaking. If every wisp of his will was like a fragile zither string, then right now, it was as if someone was sawing at them, one by one, with a blunt saw…

“It’s a good thing I didn’t try for so many years. At least it succeeded on the first try.”

After panting heavily for a long time, the pain in his mind slowly receded, but Li Yan’s face remained pale, and a trace of fear lingered in his heart. In these decades, it wasn’t that he hadn’t thought of using his Divine Sense to try and open the Earthen Patch sooner, but in the end, he had always forced the thought down. It was only recently, when he tried to extend his Divine Sense bit by bit, that although pain still came from his Sea of Consciousness, it had lessened by more than half compared to before.

For several days in a row, Li Yan had still hesitated. He endured the intense pain, extending his Divine Sense bit by bit to confirm the results. Finally, he had confirmed the current strength of his Divine Sense and the stability of his Sea of Consciousness. After another ten days of proper cultivation, today, the moment his True Scripture of Gui Water stopped circulating, he acted without any hesitation, quickly extending his Divine Sense and connecting with the Earthen Patch. The moment the Earthen Patch opened, a heart-wrenching pain shot out from the depths of his mind.

Li Yan let out a muffled grunt. He barely had time to see the situation inside the Earthen Patch before he plunged his Divine Sense towards a pre-determined location and quickly wrapped it around a delicate little jade bottle, pulling it out. The moment the small jade bottle reached his palm, the exertion of opening the Earthen Patch caused the wisp of Divine Sense he had painstakingly gathered to instantly dissipate.

Li Yan’s vision went black, and he nearly fainted right there. Sitting cross-legged, his body was already swaying unstoppably. He gasped for air, and it took a full quarter of an hour before the scenery before his eyes returned to normal, and the intense pain in his Sea of Consciousness slowly faded. After steadying his mind, Li Yan carefully opened the stopper of the bottle. A heart-refreshing fragrance instantly filled the entire room. At the bottom of the bottle was a single bean-sized medicinal pill. Its entire body emitted a soft purple light, and on its surface, mysterious talismanic patterns flowed endlessly, giving it a mystical aura. It was the True Essence Pill that Li Yan had been reluctant to use.

“I hope it works. Senior Ping Tu, please bless me!”

Li Yan once again recalled Ping Tu’s evaluation of this pill. Although he was hopeful, his heart was still in turmoil. If even the True Essence Pill didn’t work, he would have no choice but to reveal some of his injuries and see if Shangguan Tianque had any pills to heal the Sea of Consciousness. As long as his Divine Sense recovered, he would at least have some means to protect himself when he went out. Otherwise, if he wanted to go out and find pills to treat his Nascent Soul, he would be like a deaf and blind man, making it all too easy for others to plot against him.

After calming his emotions, Li Yan immediately tipped the pill out. The True Essence Pill was full of spirituality. Without the ability to use his Divine Sense, Li Yan couldn’t feel the fear it radiated. But the moment the pill fell into his palm, it immediately shone with a strong light, the patterns on it becoming even clearer, and it looked as if it was about to flee. Li Yan gave a cold snort, tightened his grip, and then tossed it into his mouth…

Eight months later, Li Yan, who was meditating, suddenly opened his eyes. The moment he did, it was as if a bolt of lightning had struck the secret chamber. The entire room lit up and then returned to normal. With a thought, his Divine Sense appeared in the Earthen Patch space in the next moment. His Divine Sense swept out, covering heaven and earth. In an instant, scenes from the space flashed past at high speed. The desert land in the far west, the pristine white snow on the mountain peaks, and many members of the Snow Mosquito Clan appeared one by one.

The illusory figure of Li Yan’s Divine Sense stood in the void, quietly looking down. Qian Ji and Zi Kun were no longer here. Looking at the Snow Mosquitoes, Li Yan was filled with a myriad of thoughts. He just stood there quietly. Cultivators live for too long, experiencing too much slaughter and death. It is said that they become emotionless and devoid of desire. But the two demons had been with him since he was in the Foundation Establishment stage. Seeing the familiar scenery again, Li Yan stood in the air for a long time.

“Congratulations, Master, on your great achievement…”

“Congratulations, Master!”

The two voices echoed only in his mind, but their familiar auras and figures were gone.

Slowly, Li Yan’s gaze shifted to the mountain peak. Without Qian Ji, after a long time, the Snow Mosquitoes might give birth to a new king, or they might not. This was because the few most powerful Snow Mosquitoes there were all female, Qian Ji’s consorts. Li Yan did not intend to interfere by force. It was best to let the Snow Mosquito Clan handle things themselves. What he needed to do was figure out how to contact the lower realm, and preferably, make a trip back to bring everyone he could up here.

After watching the snow-capped peak for a while, he saw that there were indeed a few powerful female Snow Mosquitoes there, just like Qian Ji had been, lying on the peak, seemingly asleep. Li Yan thought for a moment, then his lips moved slightly. In the next moment, the few Snow Mosquitoes on the peak suddenly raised their heads, but the void was already empty…

The True Essence Pill was indeed as Ping Tu had said. An eighth-rank pill could already be called a “Saint Pill.” It was effective even for Void Refining and Body Integration cultivators, and it was extremely effective in healing his injuries. Li Yan’s Sea of Consciousness had been completely repaired. At the same time, his Nascent Soul had also awakened under the powerful medicinal effects. The moment his Nascent Soul awoke, the long-lost feeling of his magical power returned like a tide. However, his Nascent Soul was still very weak. Li Yan felt that his magical power was only at about seventy percent of its peak.

‘There’s still a lot of the True Essence Pill’s medicinal power left. Before it dissipates, I need to let my Nascent Soul recover some more…’

Although he hadn’t fully healed in one go, Li Yan was already very satisfied with this. His Nascent Soul had been too severely injured this time. When his Sea of Consciousness had slightly improved, he had immediately sent his Divine Sense to investigate. At that time, his Nascent Soul had also absorbed a great deal of the pill’s potent medicinal power. But the state of his Nascent Soul still made Li Yan break out in a cold sweat!

In that space filled with red mist, Li Yan had been forced to burn his Nascent Fire. His Nascent Soul had shriveled to only forty percent of its original size. It was covered in dark golden cracks, looking as if it would melt into golden liquid at any moment. And this was after the pill had already started to repair it; it wasn’t the first thing Li Yan had seen. The more Li Yan looked, the more frightened he became. He couldn’t imagine what his Nascent Soul was like before he used the pill, whether it was as fragile as his Sea of Consciousness, on the verge of shattering at a touch.

And all of this, if it had been any other cultivator, they probably wouldn’t have even lasted long enough to recover with the pill. In that red mist space, their Nascent Soul would have vanished, and their cultivation would have plummeted straight down to the Foundation Establishment stage, if they were lucky. This was the effect of one’s foundation, and Li Yan’s was the ninth-rank “Before the Throne Foundation Establishment,” the strongest and most stable cultivation foundation among cultivators. So, for his Nascent Soul to finally awaken was already a matter of great fortune.

In the end, after his Sea of Consciousness had fully repaired, Li Yan did not intend to use the remaining medicinal power for cultivation but to continue repairing his Nascent Soul.

‘Senior Ping Tu once said that this kind of pill is extremely precious even in the Immortal Spirit Realm and not often seen. But at least it won’t be like the lower realm, where it would be impossible for it to be sold or auctioned. In the future, I must pay more attention to news of this pill and try to stock up on a few more…’

Li Yan was extremely satisfied with the effect of the True Essence Pill. He still didn’t know what other pills similar to the True Essence Pill existed in the Immortal Spirit Realm, so he thought of getting some more True Essence Pills first. …

Five years later, at Li Yan’s residence, the gate to his cave, which had been closed all this time, suddenly opened on this day. At the entrance stood Yu Banjiang, a strange look on his face. Just before, the token in his possession had suddenly vibrated. He, who had been organizing medicinal herbs, submerged his Divine Sense into it, and a look of pleasant surprise appeared on his face. It was a message from Li Yan, asking him to come over.

In these few years, Yu Banjiang’s feelings towards this Elder Li whom he had saved had grown increasingly complex. The sect’s prestige was now much greater, more disciples were joining, and all aspects of the sect were flourishing. And all of this was related to Li Yan. But his master and martial uncle had already issued a gag order. Before Li Yan came out of seclusion, he was not to reveal any information about him, not even a single detail to his own junior martial brothers and sisters. The two of them knew Yu Banjiang’s character too well. Once he opened his mouth to his junior brothers and sisters, he might not be able to be discreet, so they had him completely seal the matter.

Shangguan Tianque and his junior sister also had their own thoughts. They didn’t want others to know about Li Yan’s injuries. Before Li Yan’s official inauguration ceremony, maintaining a powerful and mysterious combat force would be more intimidating. The negative consequences of their territorial expansion also needed the deterrence of this mysterious power. Fortunately, Yu Banjiang had brought Li Yan back in a Spirit-Storing Pouch, and his cave residence was near the Scripture-Storing Pavilion. Plus, Yu Banjiang basically cultivated his state of mind in the Scripture-Storing Pavilion, so no one ever disturbed him.

“Fellow Daoist Yu, please come in!”

The moment the gate opened, Li Yan’s calm voice came out. When Yu Banjiang heard this, a strange light first flashed in his eyes. Li Yan’s attitude was as polite as when he had first woken up, his voice still calm and steady, without any of the airs of an elder.

Looking at the yellow-robed elder who walked in, Li Yan’s brow furrowed after a sweep of his Divine Sense. When he woke up today, he felt that the sixty-year period he had promised was about up. Although his Nascent Soul had not fully recovered, his magical power was at about eighty percent. So, with a slight release of his Divine Sense, he had sensed the auras of all the cultivators in the sect, including Yu Banjiang’s. However, he did not sense the auras of Shangguan Tianque or the other Nascent Soul cultivator. Li Yan guessed that they might be using a formation to conceal their auras. His Divine Sense did not probe further; it was just a quick sweep, and then he directly sent a message to Yu Banjiang.

Looking at Yu Banjiang before him, now that his Divine Sense had recovered, Li Yan could see his cultivation level: the Pseudo-Core Realm. But his body exuded a faint aura of death.

“Disciple pays respects to Elder Li!”

After taking a few steps forward, Yu Banjiang immediately performed a grand salute. Li Yan was polite to him, but he dared not be so presumptuous.

“Hahaha, Fellow Daoist Yu, there’s no need to be so polite with me. The fact that I’m here is thanks to you saving me back then. What’s more, I haven’t even officially joined the sect yet. You can just call me Fellow Daoist.”

Hearing Li Yan’s words, Yu Banjiang’s heart tightened, and he quickly looked up.

“What, does Elder Li intend to leave?” His character was straightforward. Thinking of this, he became very anxious and blurted out the question. But the moment the words left his mouth, he regretted it.

Hearing this, Li Yan’s expression remained unchanged. He waved his hand, pointed to a chair to the side, and gestured for him to sit down and talk. Since he had requested the other to call him “Fellow Daoist,” and the other insisted on using a different address, he would let him be. He saw that by asking Yu Banjiang to call him Fellow Daoist, he might have misunderstood, thinking he no longer wanted to be an elder of the Broken Army Sect.

“Fellow Daoist Yu, you’ve misunderstood. I just felt that it’s been about sixty years of seclusion, so I came out today. When I briefly probed just now, I didn’t find Fellow Daoist Shangguan, so I sent you a message!”

Hearing Li Yan’s words, Yu Banjiang’s heart finally relaxed. He was really afraid that the other party would want to leave as soon as his injuries were healed. Although his sect had shown kindness to Li Yan, Li Yan’s actions last time could be considered a complete repayment of that kindness. Otherwise, the Broken Army Sect might have been annihilated that time.

He still did not sit down as told, but stood with his hands clasped, respectfully replying to Li Yan.

“Oh, that’s because Master and Martial Uncle are also cultivating. When they cultivate, they always activate the restrictions, so Divine Sense probably can’t find them. I’ll send them a voice transmission now…”