Chapter 1349: A Settled Heart

“I’ll send a voice transmission to Master right away. Since Elder Li has already come out of seclusion, Master and the others should be informed of this matter. I expect Master will have things to discuss with Elder Li as well,” Yu Banjiang said.

Li Yan had no objection to this. He had planned to have a proper chat with Shangguan Tianque after coming out of seclusion anyway. At the same time, he needed to make plans for his future. Based on what he had learned about the Immortal Spirit Realm, Li Yan felt it was unlikely he would be leaving the Broken Army Sect, or more accurately, the Northern Pastoral Realm, anytime soon. The Northern Pastoral Realm was too vast. Yu Banjiang and the others wouldn’t lie to him about the domain’s geography; he could easily verify that himself.

So, after understanding the situation of the Broken Army Sect, he would next focus on familiarizing himself with the surrounding environment, eventually expanding his knowledge to a general understanding of the entire Northern Pastoral Realm. This would lay the foundation for him to search for the Malevolent Spirit Sect or the Gui Water Immortal Sect in the future. During this period, Li Yan also wanted to figure out how to contact the lower realm. This was the most urgent thing he wanted to do. If he couldn’t go down, he had to get a message down.

Therefore, for some time to come, he might not have much time to cultivate. There were quite a few matters to attend to. For example, if he could find the Malevolent Spirit Sect, perhaps Gu Jiuqi there would have a connection to his clone in the lower realm; or he could find “Gui Qu Lai Xi”…

In just the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, Li Yan, who was chatting idly with Yu Banjiang in the cave residence, suddenly looked up. He sensed two faint yet powerful auras appearing and rapidly descending towards his cave. Seeing Li Yan’s reaction, Yu Banjiang immediately guessed what was happening. In the short time just now, Li Yan had asked him to describe the situation of the Broken Army Sect in the years since that battle. On that day, Li Yan had already heard from Yu Banjiang about the conflict with the Dragon-Catching Sect. So, after killing one and injuring another of their opponents, he could generally guess the outcome. But that was still just his guess. Now, upon hearing from Yu Banjiang that the Dragon-Catching Sect’s territory had been completely absorbed by the Broken Army Sect, and that the last Nascent Soul cultivator from that sect had fought to the death, perishing with his sect, he couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

In the cultivation world, there was no good or bad, no justice or evil. Everything was for one’s own survival, for the development of one’s sect, to acquire as many cultivation resources as possible. Even in the Immortal Spirit Realm, cultivation resources were still not enough to go around. So, it was the same story of constantly snatching, plundering, killing, and slaughtering… The Broken Army Sect was, in truth, also plundering the resources of others. It was just that by a strange twist of fate, he had ended up in the Broken Army Sect. What enmity did he have with Mang Yan and the others?

According to Yu Banjiang, the Broken Army Sect had grown much stronger over the years. Currently, there were people at every realm in seclusion, attempting breakthroughs, and several among the Golden Core realm were trying to reach the Nascent Soul realm. The overall promotion speed of this sect was much faster than that of a lower-realm sect.

“Hahaha… Congratulations, Elder Li, on your recovery!”

Accompanied by a clear laugh, two figures arrived side by side. After landing, they strode into Li Yan’s cave residence. Li Yan stood up to greet them, a smile on his face. Yu Banjiang immediately stepped aside, standing with his hands clasped.

A young man and woman entered. The man was dressed in a yellow robe, tall and straight, only slightly shorter than Li Yan, but far more handsome. His face was like jade, with starry eyes and sword-like brows. His movements were unspeakably elegant and otherworldly. As for Li Yan, with his aura retracted, he looked more like a common laborer.

Beside Shangguan Tianque was a beautiful woman in a loose, floor-length red robe. Her eyes were like cold stars, her face exquisitely carved, and her skin fairer than snow. Her three thousand strands of dark hair were simply held up in part by a hairpin, cascading down her back like a waterfall, giving her the air of a martial world heroine. This was the second time Li Yan had met her. The last time, he had only glanced at her and had not spoken.

“Thank you, Fellow Daoist Shangguan. And here, I must thank the sect for its protection over these years!” Li Yan said with a smile, cupping his hands in salute to the two of them. With a simple sweep of his Divine Sense, he had already discerned their cultivation levels. They were both late-stage Nascent Soul, and the kind of veteran Nascent Soul cultivators who had been at this realm for a very long time. Not like him, who had only entered the late stage a few decades ago.

As Li Yan was observing them, Shangguan Tianque and the other were also observing him. Although Shangguan Tianque had guessed Li Yan’s cultivation level before, because Li Yan had been injured at the time, he couldn’t be certain of his true realm. Now, after careful observation, he was certain.

‘It really is mid-stage Nascent Soul!’

After coming out of seclusion, Li Yan had still concealed his cultivation, only revealing it to be at the mid-stage Nascent Soul. This was his usual practice. In his view, it wasn’t a matter of hiding it or not; it was about always keeping a trump card up his sleeve. That was what made him feel comfortable. If the other party could see through it, then that was their own skill.

“Ren Yanyu pays her respects to Elder Li! Elder Li is too modest. Last time, it was thanks to your timely intervention that our sect was able to survive a great calamity!” The beautiful woman in red also swept her lovely eyes over Li Yan and then gave a graceful curtsey.

Although both she and Shangguan Tianque could see that Li Yan’s realm was slightly lower than theirs, their attitude towards him was even more respectful. The combat power of this human-shaped ferocious beast was too fresh in their memories. Even after all these years, they still remembered the scene of Li Yan’s sudden appearance, a moment as fierce as the advent of a peerless beast.

It was only then that Li Yan learned the name of the Broken Army Sect’s other Nascent Soul ancestor.

‘Her name matches her appearance quite well, with a certain martial world flair,’ Li Yan thought. As for her praise, he just smiled without a word.

Shangguan Tianque glanced at Yu Banjiang at this moment and nodded at his disciple. “Banjiang, if there is nothing else, we have some matters to discuss with Elder Li.”

Yu Banjiang quickly bowed. “Master, just now Elder Li saw that this disciple was injured and helped to examine me. He said he might be able to cure my soul’s injury?”

Knowing that it was not appropriate for him to stay here any longer, Yu Banjiang immediately voiced the thoughts in his heart.

“Oh? Elder Li has a way to cure Banjiang’s chronic illness?” Upon hearing this, a sharp glint immediately flashed in Shangguan Tianque’s eyes. Among all his disciples, he was fondest of Yu Banjiang. He had raised this person himself. He was honest, reliable, and had his own opinions.

Both he and Ren Yanyu had several disciples, and two of them had already advanced to the Nascent Soul realm—three in total. But all had subsequently fallen in battle for the sect, which had caused both of them great pain. The first time Yu Banjiang had tried to break through to the Nascent Soul realm, his hopes had been very high. But just two years before his attempt, Ren Yanyu’s eldest disciple, with whom he had a Dao Companion agreement, had fallen. Ren Yanyu’s eldest disciple had advanced to the Nascent Soul realm less than twenty years prior. Yu Banjiang, full of confidence, had also wanted to form his Nascent Soul. He had told her that he would advance to the Nascent Soul realm within a sixty-year cycle, and then they would become Dao Companions.

Unfortunately, with the fall of Ren Yanyu’s eldest disciple, all of this had become a fleeting illusion. Soon after, Yu Banjiang had prematurely begun his attempt to break through to the Nascent Soul realm, and had ultimately failed at the “Inner Demon Tribulation” stage. Shangguan Tianque knew that Yu Banjiang’s state of mind had been compromised, but a state of mind was something no cultivator could help another with. After the first breakthrough failed, it became much more difficult to try again. This was a great blow to Yu Banjiang. He had been determined to succeed in forming his Nascent Soul so he could personally avenge his Dao Companion, but the result had been a great disappointment.

From then on, Yu Banjiang had become more and more silent, eventually preferring to spend his days sweeping the Scripture-Storing Pavilion, layer by layer, rather than seeing outsiders. Especially after failing his second breakthrough attempt many years later, Yu Banjiang had nearly fallen into despair. But the conviction to take revenge had supported him, and he planned to try one more time. Shangguan Tianque could only let him be, but both he and Ren Yanyu knew of a problem. Although Yu Banjiang, after these years of settling, had begun to accept the death of his Dao Companion, his soul was injured, and the chances of another breakthrough were very slim.

“Oh, I saw some injuries on Fellow Daoist Yu’s soul…”

Li Yan once again simply repeated what he had said to Yu Banjiang before. Ren Yanyu’s beautiful eyes sparkled as she listened. After Li Yan finished speaking, it was Ren Yanyu who spoke first this time.

“Banjiang, this is your opportunity. Fanzhu has been gone for a long time. It’s time to let go of the past. If fate allows, you will surely meet her again in one of her future reincarnations. Besides, you are not willing to enter reincarnation and lose your memories just yet. There is nothing more to hesitate about.”

A look of pain also flashed in Ren Yanyu’s eyes. Her eldest disciple was a pain in her heart as well. Every time she thought of her, she would be filled with sorrow. Every time she looked at Yu Banjiang’s current appearance, so aged… the spirited youth from before had already become somewhat blurry in her memory.

“To think that Elder Li is also proficient in the way of soul cultivation. It is truly astonishing,” Shangguan Tianque said at this moment, his tone laced with surprise. Li Yan claimed that it was a friend of his who cultivated this path. Regardless of whether that was true or not, just the fact that he could diagnose the problem with the “Earth Soul” and “Human Soul” was something they could not do. This could be verified later. As long as Yu Banjiang’s soul left his body, they would be able to see if the two souls were truly partially overlapping. Just by looking at the expression on Li Yan’s face, one could guess that he was quite confident.

On this point, there was no need for him to lie. Especially since Yu Banjiang was only a Golden Core cultivator. To Li Yan, unless they had a blood feud, he wasn’t even qualified to be a soul slave. In their perception, Li Yan was a powerful body cultivator, a violent cultivator known for his formidable combat prowess. For him to be knowledgeable in the methods of Dharma Cultivation was truly impressive.

“It was a fortunate encounter. I just happen to have a talisman on hand,” Li Yan said. He had always been one to repay kindness and enmity. He certainly wouldn’t be stingy in helping Yu Banjiang, so he didn’t want to dwell on this issue.

“For this matter, Fellow Daoist Li, if you have time later, shall we treat Banjiang?” Shangguan Tianque was no longer being polite.

“Let him go back and adjust his aura to its best state first. About three days should be enough!” Li Yan could see that Yu Banjiang’s state was not at its best. He had been busy organizing herbs recently, so he was indeed not in top condition. Three days of meditation should be enough for a full recovery.

After Yu Banjiang left, the three of them sat down. At this point, their conversation became much more casual. However, as Li Yan was not very familiar with the Immortal Spirit Realm, it was mostly the senior brother and junior sister who did the talking. Soon, Li Yan learned the true origins of the Broken Army Sect.

Both Shangguan Tianque and Ren Yanyu came from small cultivation families. Shangguan Tianque was much older, and Ren Yanyu had known him since she was a child. The two families had always been on good terms. But later, the ancestor of the Ren family had died unexpectedly while outside, and the Ren family soon fell into decline. At that time, Shangguan Tianque wanted to bring Ren Yanyu into the Shangguan family for protection, but Ren Yanyu was unwilling to live under someone else’s roof and insisted on cultivating on her own. And so Shangguan Tianque, who was still in the Core Formation stage, made his decision. He also left his family and eventually set out to train and adventure with Ren Yanyu.

The two of them had experienced countless life-and-death situations, but even on the brink of death, they had never abandoned each other. In these life-and-death struggles, their synergy in fighting enemies became more and more tacit. Even in the most dangerous of times, they could find a way out of a desperate situation. They called this “Broken Army”…

‘I was wondering why this Ren Yanyu has such a martial world air about her. So she fought her way up from the bottom…’ Li Yan thought to himself. Looking closely at Shangguan Tianque, he too had a certain untamed air of the martial world about him. He couldn’t help but admire the two of them. They had fought their way to establish their own sect, a path paved with blood. Li Yan felt that even in the Immortal Spirit Realm, if these two had good cultivation methods, they would be no less than the so-called ascended cultivators from the lower realm, definitely ruthless individuals who could kill across realms.

Li Yan wasn’t particularly interested in establishing a sect, but he greatly admired the two of them for their thousands of years of unwavering companionship. Then he thought of himself. He had originally thought that after Zhao Min and Gong Chenying had both formed their Nascent Souls, the three of them would ascend to the upper realm together. But in the end, it had become this, scattered to the four corners of the world.

During their conversation, although Shangguan Tianque still intended to inquire about Li Yan’s origins, seeing that Li Yan was unwilling to talk much about it, he and Ren Yanyu exchanged a look and gave up the idea. With Li Yan’s actions last time, his origins were no longer that important to them. It was just curiosity.

“After Elder Li acted last time, our supervising Upper Sect, the Blood Lantern Sect, upon learning of Elder Li’s methods, asked me to convey their wish to meet with you, Elder Li. However, you have been in seclusion, so we have not been able to mention this. Today, since you have come out, I will pass on the Upper Sect’s message.”

Seeing that they had talked enough about other matters, Shangguan Tianque brought up another issue. As he said this, Ren Yanyu’s beautiful eyes immediately fell on Li Yan’s face.

Li Yan was startled upon hearing this, but he quickly regained his composure.

“I don’t think it’s necessary. In that battle, I only succeeded through a sneak attack,” Li Yan said lightly. What Upper Sect “Blood Lantern Sect”? With his character, before he had confirmed his own surroundings, he had no desire to attract anyone’s attention.

Hearing this, Shangguan Tianque and his junior sister exchanged a glance, a hint of surprise in their hearts. They had never expected Li Yan’s refusal to be so direct. In their view, after learning of the situation, Li Yan should at least have hesitated. But looking at Li Yan’s expression, it didn’t seem feigned. Besides, if he had other intentions, there was no need to say such words. He could have just expressed his willingness to go and have a look; they couldn’t have stopped him. This left the two of them with a prepared speech and the painful sacrifice they were ready to make, suddenly rendered useless.

“Elder Li, this is the Blood Lantern Sect…” Shangguan Tianque was a little uncertain.

“Hahaha, if the two of you think it’s better for me to go, then I’ll go and have a look!” Li Yan said with a half-smile, his gaze sweeping over the two of them.

“Oh… oh, no, no, no! For Elder Li to be able to stay in the sect, we couldn’t ask for more!” Shangguan Tianque quickly waved his hands. Since the other party had been so direct, they were of course overjoyed!

Subsequently, they began to discuss Li Yan’s role as a sect elder and related matters.

“The transitional chapters are basically finished, and the subsequent story will slowly unfold! Recently, I have been very busy with work, with endless meetings/projects, and I need to find time to write. But I will continue to keep it updated!”