Chapter 1355: An Unexpected Invitation

The red cover of the lantern was also made from the fascia of a demonic beast. Li Yan still couldn’t tell what kind of demonic beast it was. After being stretched and refined, the fascia had become as thin as a cicada’s wing, presenting a translucent dark red color overall. If any colored light appeared inside, it would look like a patch of red from the outside.

Some magical power welled up in Li Yan’s hand, and he gently stroked the surface of the red lampshade, carefully feeling the feedback and sensation in his hand… ‘This should be made from the fascia of a second-rank demonic beast, the same material as the lantern’s rope, so a Foundation Establishment cultivator can still damage it. But this is somewhat inexplicable. Why is it that it has a similar aura to the ‘Heaven-Stealing Kerchief,’ yet their ranks are so vastly different…’ Li Yan thought quickly in his mind.

Whether it was the lantern’s handle, the forty-nine frames, or the lampshade, in his perception, they could at most reach the level of a magical artifact. And thinking about the strangeness of the “Heaven-Stealing Kerchief,” Li Yan always felt something was wrong. He felt that the hand-held red lantern shouldn’t be so unimpressive.

‘Could it be that some of the same materials were used in their refining, but the grades of the raw materials are too different, which is why I can sense some familiar aura, yet they are worlds apart…’ After carefully sensing the red fascia for a while, Li Yan still couldn’t detect anything special.

Finally, Li Yan’s gaze fell on the base of the lantern. There, there were black marks that looked like they had been burned. After looking for a while, Li Yan saw that there were only burn marks on the lantern base, but there was no trace of anything like a residual candle or wick, and no candle wax or lamp oil was left behind. This time, Li Yan directly ignored the aura sensing and began to slowly observe the base with his Divine Sense.

After a good while, he stretched out a finger, reached in from the top of the lantern, and stroked the burned black marks a few times. Then he took his finger out and looked at it carefully in front of his eyes. After another dozen breaths, Li Yan fell into deep thought…

‘Since it’s a lantern, there must be something to light it or make it glow. Even if it’s an immortal item and doesn’t use a candle, then there should be something like a night-luminescent pearl embedded in it… But the base of this lantern clearly has burn marks, and the base itself is a magical artifact. To be able to leave marks on it, the thing that was lit was not an ordinary object… But there are tens of thousands, if not more, of such combustible materials. After all, the base is only at the magical artifact level. There are many things in the hands of cultivators that can burn and leave marks… But whether I use my Divine Sense or touch it with my fingers, there are only burn marks, and I can’t find any trace of any burning material left behind. This is strange. Could it be that the lantern has been studied too many times, and someone has also thought of this, and then constantly tried to extract from the base, and in the end, it has been scraped clean…’

One thought after another flashed through Li Yan’s mind. He kept speculating, but one by one, they couldn’t be established. As long as his Divine Sense completely entered the red lantern, the aura that was the same as the “Heaven-Stealing Kerchief” would disappear, making it impossible for him to sense it. When his Divine Sense moved away, that hazy sensation would reappear, as if it was there and not there.

Time passed continuously. Li Yan had no idea how much time had passed outside. During this period, he condensed various art-based flames and placed them on the lantern base. The entire lantern just shone with a red light, with no other reaction. Li Yan finally had to increase the temperature of the flames, but if he wasn’t careful, he almost burned the red lantern to ashes. When the flame temperature reached what Li Yan felt was its limit, there was still no abnormality.

After thinking carefully for a while, Li Yan even turned the “Heaven-Stealing Kerchief” into a wick and tried to light it, but the “Heaven-Stealing Kerchief” also had no reaction at all. That was an art-based flame condensed by a late-stage Nascent Soul Great Cultivator, no less than the Samadhi True Fire, but it was unable to light a silk kerchief.

Time flew by. Li Yan in the room had no idea how much time had passed. In the end, he had almost used every test he could think of, just short of ruthlessly activating his Nascent Fire, which could burn almost anything. In the end, he extinguished this thought. In the end, he was still a little worried that the “Heaven-Stealing Kerchief” would be too severely damaged. Once the Nascent Fire was summoned, he himself had no confidence that he could extinguish it at the critical moment…

Just as Li Yan was lost in thought, he was suddenly awakened by a buzzing sound. A sweep of his Divine Sense revealed a voice transmission talisman darting back and forth at the room’s restriction. He raised his hand, and the voice transmission talisman flew into his hand like a bird out of its cage, turning into a stream of light. Submerging his Divine Sense into it, Shangguan Tianque’s voice entered his mind.

“Elder Li, I wonder if you are free? Please come out for a chat.”

Li Yan was stunned. “Waiting for me outside? Have seven days already passed?”

He, who had been single-mindedly trying to figure out the red lantern, had not noticed the passage of time at all. It felt as if only a few hours had passed. Li Yan immediately waved his sleeve, putting away the hand-held red lantern and the “Heaven-Stealing Kerchief.” It seemed that figuring out the secrets of the red lantern was not something that could be done in a short time.

When Li Yan opened the door, Shangguan Tianque was standing outside the fence, looking up at the sky with his hands behind his back, looking as if his mind was wandering. It was just after nightfall. The sky still had a faint cyan glow, but it was already full of stars, like countless gems embedded in the night sky, twinkling, clear and mysterious.

The moment Li Yan looked at him, Shangguan Tianque also withdrew his gaze and looked over with a smile.

“Fellow Daoist Shangguan, it hasn’t been seven days yet, has it?” After seeing the color of the sky outside, Li Yan judged and confirmed that it was not morning, a hint of doubt in his eyes.

“Hahaha… It seems Elder Li is single-mindedly focused on cultivation. It was I who disturbed you. This is the third day we’ve been here. There are still a few days to go. However, although I am disturbing you, Elder Li, if you know the reason, you probably won’t blame me for disturbing your peaceful cultivation.” Shangguan Tianque laughed, making one feel as if bathed in a spring breeze.

“Oh? Please enlighten me, Fellow Daoist Shangguan!” Hearing this, Li Yan’s heart stirred, and a look of interest appeared on his face.

“In a few days, the largest auction in this market will be held, so it has attracted many fellow daoists. Among these people, I have a good relationship with some of them. So, in these few days, I have paid them a visit. Yesterday, after discussing together, we decided to hold a small exchange meeting tonight in advance. At that time, we will take out some treasures or raw materials that we don’t need for the time being for trade. We can trade with Spirit Stones or barter. Therefore, I came here specially to ask you, Elder Li, if you are interested in going together.” This time, Shangguan Tianque used a voice transmission.

“A small exchange meeting? I’m indeed a little interested in that. But will it be a bit presumptuous for me to go like this?” Li Yan’s interest was also piqued. A sharp glint flashed in his eyes as he also replied with a voice transmission. With Shangguan Tianque’s status, it was needless to say that the others were at least Nascent Soul level cultivators. The things they could take out must be their personal treasures, otherwise, they would become the subject of gossip. Just in terms of Nascent Soul level treasures, they might be much better than the self-proclaimed good things in those shops. There were many more good things in the Immortal Spirit Realm than in the mortal realm. Even if Li Yan didn’t buy anything, it was quite necessary to go and broaden his horizons.

“Hahaha… Since I came to ask you, Elder Li, of course there’s no problem. You are an elder of my sect, not an outsider!” Shangguan Tianque transmitted his voice with a light laugh.

In his conversations with some people these past few days, many people had been asking about Li Yan’s situation because of Mang Yan’s death. But he wouldn’t go into detail, just brushing it off with a few sentences, which made those people even more interested in Li Yan. But this time, with this exchange meeting, after thinking about it, he felt it was better to inform Li Yan. As for what others would talk to him about then, it would be up to Li Yan himself to decide how much truth to reveal. Through his contact with Li Yan during this period, he knew that it was absolutely not easy to get information out of him. Even with their relationship, he couldn’t get to the bottom of things, let alone others.

“By the way, if you don’t have enough Spirit Stones at that time, Elder Li, this humble brother can give you another ten thousand high-grade Spirit Stones to use. Because of the upcoming auction, I can’t provide you with more Spirit Stones. This is the limit of what the sect can offer at the moment. I’ll have to ask you to bear with me, Elder Li.”

Shangguan Tianque then continued. His words made Li Yan stunned. He hadn’t expected Shangguan Tianque to be so generous. He had said something similar a few days ago, but he hadn’t specified the exact amount. But this time, he directly said ten thousand high-grade Spirit Stones. These were high-grade Spirit Stones. If converted into low-grade Spirit Stones, they could be piled into a mountain, the kind that could really crush some low-level cultivators.

The purpose of Shangguan Tianque’s visit this time, Li Yan of course knew very well. It could be said that apart from some necessary treasures, every single Spirit Stone on Shangguan Tianque was extremely important to him.

‘This person has guts!’ Li Yan thought to himself. After a brief moment of thought, he cupped his hands to Shangguan Tianque and said in a sincere tone.

“Thank you!” This time, Li Yan did not use a voice transmission. Although it was only two words, Shangguan Tianque had already heard Li Yan’s attitude, and his heart also relaxed.

This time, when he went to the small exchange meeting with Li Yan, if there were no treasures that could help him break through to the Spirit Transformation realm, he would not buy anything at all. He had to save his Spirit Stones for the upcoming auction. To be able to take out another ten thousand high-grade Spirit Stones for Li Yan was a solemn decision he had made after careful consideration. Originally, he had thought that if Li Yan took a fancy to other things at the auction, he could give him three thousand high-grade Spirit Stones. If it was any more, he himself would not be sure if he could bid for the raw materials he wanted.

But after communicating with an old friend these past few days, he had clearly heard and seen other things from some people’s mouths and eyes. After occupying the territory of the “Dragon-Catching Sect,” many people were already very envious. At the same time, Shangguan Tianque also received some secret warnings. In fact, Shangguan Tianque and his junior sister had long guessed such things, but without confirmation, they still held a sense of wishful thinking in their hearts.

After such a situation, this made Shangguan Tianque even more worried. The sect’s enemies would only become more and more numerous and stronger in the future. He then thought about what he had seen and done with Li Yan along the way. He felt that although this person Li Yan did not like to talk much, he should be a man of his word. And from the fact that he was able to help Yu Banjiang, one could also see a thing or two about his character. Therefore, after thinking about it, Shangguan Tianque of course wanted to sincerely keep Li Yan in the sect as much as possible. Even if he failed to break through this time, he would have left a strong pillar for the sect. And his junior sister still had hope of advancing to Spirit Transformation. If she had Li Yan’s help, the “Broken Army Sect” would not immediately head towards its end because of his death.

So, after calculating the Spirit Stones he had on him and the treasures he could exchange, he still squeezed out ten thousand high-grade Spirit Stones.

“Then when do we set out?” The two of them quickly exchanged voice transmissions. In just over ten breaths, since Li Yan knew the purpose of the other’s visit, he didn’t want to delay any longer.

“Oh, wait a moment. We’ll wait for another fellow daoist, and then we’ll go together! The other party may also be cultivating. After I sent the voice transmission talisman to you, I also sent one to the other party. I think a reply will be coming soon!”

“Oh, the Sect Master has other acquaintances living here too?” Hearing this, Li Yan’s expression did not change.

Since Shangguan Tianque had said he had been visiting some friends these past few days, it was not surprising that he would go to a small exchange meeting with others. He himself was the unexpected one. But what surprised him was that Shangguan Tianque’s way of speaking meant that there were others also staying at the “Water-Cloud Inn.”

“Oh, this fellow daoist is…” Just as Shangguan Tianque was about to introduce him via voice transmission, suddenly the two of them stopped transmitting their voices and looked in the same direction at the same time.

As the two of them watched, the fence of the courtyard diagonally opposite Li Yan’s residence changed. Amidst a rapid surge of clouds and mist, a graceful figure walked out. The moment Li Yan saw her, a look of surprise flashed in his eyes.

“To appear at this time, could it be this woman?”

In the surging white mist ahead, a black-robed woman wearing a half-silver mask walked out. When she saw Shangguan Tianque and Li Yan, there was obvious astonishment in her eyes as well.

“Hahaha… We were just saying we were waiting for you to come out, Fellow Daoist, and here you are, Fellow Daoist Donglin. Just in time, let me introduce you two. Elder Li, this is Donglin Tingyue of the Donglin family. I also met her a few days ago and only then did I know she was also staying here. And by a coincidence, we are also staying in the same courtyard.”

After seeing the person who came, Shangguan Tianque’s first half of the sentence was still addressed to both of them, but the second half was already introducing her origin to Li Yan.

“The Donglin family? Isn’t that a cultivation family subordinate to the ‘Blood Lantern Sect,’ just like the ‘Broken Army Sect’?” Li Yan’s thoughts raced, and some information surfaced in his mind. He knew of this family. It was indeed a subordinate sect of the “Blood Lantern Sect,” of the same rank as the “Broken Army Sect.” But their family seemed to have five Nascent Soul cultivators presiding over it.

By that count, their overall strength was a bit stronger than the “Broken Army Sect.” But Shangguan Tianque and his junior sister were both late-stage Nascent Soul and were most skilled in joint attacks. Unless they encountered someone like the sinister middle-aged man last time, who held a special counter-treasure, they wouldn’t get much of an advantage even if several people of the same rank besieged them. That kind of magical treasure that specifically targeted the divine soul was not common in the cultivation world. Li Yan had obtained one, but he had been busy contacting the lower realm and finding his own sect recently, and hadn’t had time to study it carefully.

It was said that the Nascent Soul cultivators of the Donglin family were all cultivated by their own family, and there were no guest elders. But the other party only had one late-stage Great Cultivator, who was a veteran Nascent Soul cultivator, probably of a similar age to Shangguan Tianque. It was said that he had long been in seclusion to break through to Spirit Transformation, so there was no recent news of him. Although the Donglin family only had one late-stage Nascent Soul Great Cultivator, they were skilled in the way of beast taming, so their true combat power could not be judged by their superficial realm. Therefore, even a power like the “Dragon-Catching Sect” wouldn’t think they could annex them. On the contrary, they found the Donglin family even more difficult to deal with.