Chapter 1367: An Undercurrent Flows Around the Reef

On the mist-shrouded summit of the back mountain, Shangguan Tianque and Ren Yanyu stood side by side. Their clothes fluttered in the wind, and strands of their hair were constantly being blown about. Before them was a sea of clouds as white as snow…

Once they were alone, Shangguan Tianque finally explained the details of the incident. Ren Yanyu was dumbfounded.

“You’re saying… he might be a Spirit Transformation cultivator?”

Shangguan Tianque gave a wry smile, then shook his head.

“It’s just a guess. There’s only a slight possibility! I tried to ask, but Elder Li said he’s just a Nascent Soul cultivator and wasn’t willing to say more! But how could a Nascent Soul cultivator kill Late-stage Nascent Soul Great Cultivators time and time again, and as easily as eating and drinking? You and I have seen many Nascent Soul cultivators. Have we ever seen such a formidable figure of the same rank?”

After hearing this, Ren Yanyu fell silent for a while before she raised her beautiful face and looked at Shangguan Tianque again.

“There are two possibilities: First, we’ve always known that cultivators from the lower realms are formidable in combat. We’ve also seen some of them before. We felt that although they were strong, it was more that their attacks were more ruthless and decisive. The control they had over their own magical power in every attack, the level of detail was astonishing. Unlike the cultivators of the Immortal Spirit Realm, who, because the spiritual energy between heaven and earth is too rich, can recover quite quickly in battle. Therefore, they don’t polish their techniques bit by bit, and their execution is somewhat crude. Moreover, cultivators from the lower realms have tempered themselves more arduously, are more fearless in the face of death, and their reactions in life-or-death situations are more acute. A battle between cultivators can be decided in an instant. If one’s reaction is just a fraction faster, the outcome is completely different. So, among these ascended cultivators from the lower realms, there may be even more brilliant and outstanding individuals. We just haven’t met them before. This Li Yan might be the top among them. The other possibility is, as you guessed, that he is indeed a Spirit Transformation cultivator, but he might be afraid of causing a rift between us, so he has been concealing it. After all, if he were to reveal his true cultivation, it’s highly likely that he would become the master of the Broken Army Sect, and we would become his subordinates. From my observations over this period, I don’t think Li Yan is the type of person who is keen on power. He should be the type who is dedicated to arduous cultivation. So, he is unwilling to take over as master, and unwilling to admit his true cultivation realm!”

Ren Yanyu explained her thoughts one by one. After hearing her, Shangguan Tianque pondered for a moment before he had to agree with his junior sister.

“Then, in your opinion, how should we treat him in the future?”

“There’s no need for special treatment. Just give him the regular elder’s stipend. Otherwise, it might backfire. But from now on, we must treat him with sincerity and no longer hide any major sect matters from him. It is our good fortune, and the good fortune of the Broken Army Sect, to have someone like Elder Li in the sect. Now, apart from our superior sect, the Blood Lantern Sect, which can suppress us, all the surrounding sects that covet us are no longer a cause for concern.”

Ren Yanyu seemed to have thought of the prosperity the sect would experience in the future with Li Yan staying, and a smile appeared on her beautiful face.

Shangguan Tianque felt that what his junior sister said was very reasonable. An unexplainable sense of relief washed over his heart, and he even experienced a rare feeling of relaxation and clarity.

Looking at the endless, churning sea of white clouds before him, Shangguan Tianque felt some of the pressure that had been building up for a long time flying away from his heart…

They had walked a path of blood and bodies. One by one, the prodigies of the sect had fallen, forcing them to tread on thin ice, every step filled with trepidation.

As the limit of his lifespan drew nearer, he only grew more anxious. But he dared not show this emotion. It would only cause panic among the sect’s disciples and achieve nothing else.

He knew that Ren Yanyu loved him deeply and had always hoped that he would succeed in reaching the Spirit Transformation Realm. Then, the sect’s crisis would be alleviated, and they could laugh freely in the mountains and sing with wine in their leisure.

Everything in the past had made Shangguan Tianque feel suffocated. He didn’t know what kind of foolish things his junior sister would do once he fell.

But he knew that the Broken Army Sect was also Ren Yanyu’s lifeline. With the help of a powerhouse like Li Yan, the future of the Broken Army Sect would surely get better and better.

When the sect was thriving, perhaps Ren Yanyu would cherish the sect’s future legacy even more and give up some foolish ideas.

“Then we’ll do as you say. Next, I’m going to prepare for alchemy. If I succeed, there will be two pills. I will use one to try to advance, and the other will be for you. When I undergo my tribulation, you and Li Yan will guard me together!”

Shangguan Tianque smiled faintly.

He had decided to start refining the “Spirit-Connecting Pill.” This was a sixth-rank medicinal pill. He had refined similar pills before, so it was not unfamiliar to him.

Not only was Shangguan Tianque’s cultivation extremely strong, but he was also a grandmaster of alchemy. He and Ren Yanyu had come this far in their cultivation with the help of many medicinal pills.

And at their former realm, they couldn’t afford to buy many finished pills. Shangguan Tianque had no choice but to force himself to learn alchemy and artifact refining.

After he successfully refined the pills this time, it was of course impossible for him and Ren Yanyu to advance at the same time. Someone had to guard them.

In his previous plans, he would definitely only have Ren Yanyu guard him. This matter was too important, and he would do his utmost to guard against any possible accidents.

Otherwise, if things went wrong, it would become his death tribulation, and he would be doomed forever.

“Yes, with Elder Li this time, I refuse to believe… Hmph, if I find out who is secretly causing trouble, even if it means perishing together, I will go to their door…”

Hearing Shangguan Tianque’s words, an extremely angry expression appeared on Ren Yanyu’s delicate, jade-like face.

That time, Shangguan Tianque had been just one step away from successfully advancing to the Spirit Transformation Realm, but someone had interfered. A third-rank demonic beast had suddenly appeared during his heavenly tribulation.

The appearance of that third-rank demonic beast was too abrupt. Even Ren Yanyu had not sensed how it appeared. At that time, she was so shocked that her face turned pale.

A third-rank demonic beast itself was of course not much. Under the world-destroying heavenly tribulation, it was instantly turned to ash.

But the power of rules had been cast on that third-rank demonic beast, causing Shangguan Tianque to not only fail in his advancement but also almost perish on the spot.

Fortunately, Shangguan Tianque had a profound foundation and had experienced countless life-and-death tribulations. With his extremely strong adaptability, he still survived.

So, when Ren Yanyu later also wanted to advance to the Spirit Transformation Realm, she was temporarily stopped by Shangguan Tianque. He wanted to try again himself to see if someone would secretly cause trouble again.

If he could succeed, as a Spirit Transformation cultivator, he would be able to guard Ren Yanyu, which would be more stable and secure.

If he died, then he would ask Ren Yanyu to simply join a larger sect and then advance to the Spirit Transformation Realm. In a large sect, she would receive the protection of more powerful experts.

“By the way, speaking of this, I do find those two masked men in red a bit strange…”

Upon hearing this, Shangguan Tianque immediately thought of something. In fact, on his way back, he had been constantly pondering and speculating about this matter.

He had thought about the time he had tried to advance to the Spirit Transformation Realm. That time too, someone had wanted to kill him, and they were just as mysterious. He couldn’t find their origin.

So, this time, the masked men in red were also mysterious, and he couldn’t deduce their identity. Could it be related to the person who had disturbed his advancement in the past…

Inside Li Yan’s cave residence, many things were placed before him. These were the things obtained from one of the masked men in red, as well as from Liu Huaigu and the Mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.

The storage ring of the masked man in red had already been checked. It contained only a few bottles of medicinal pills, but the spirit stones were quite good. Among the things obtained from the other two, Li Yan was most satisfied with the “Immortal-Striking Stone” at first.

He first erased the remaining Divine Sense imprint on it and then simply manipulated it a bit. He felt that it was surprisingly similar to the bronze bell he had obtained before. One attacked the soul, and the other attacked the Sea of Consciousness.

It was just that he hadn’t had time to properly refine that bronze bell. He had been busy gathering information outside recently. Li Yan thought that he had to find some time to refine these two magical treasures.

Although he was strong among his peers, the path of cultivation in the Immortal Spirit Realm was ever upward. Others could crush him with their realm alone.

Afterward, seven or eight more magical treasures were placed before him. Li Yan looked at them one by one. The ones that a Nascent Soul cultivator would fancy were all quite good, but compared to the “Immortal-Striking Stone,” Li Yan felt they were a bit ordinary.

Finally, after briefly testing these magical treasures, Li Yan put them away for the time being. He felt it would be better to sell them for spirit stones.

As for the rest of the medicinal pills, raw materials, and the like, after Li Yan had sorted and counted them, he found that the pills were for various supplementary cultivation and combat uses for Nascent Soul cultivators.

This was extremely needed for him at the moment. The “Rongsun” had already been used up in the battle on the Wind God Continent and was now slowly accumulating again.

But the speed of accumulation was very slow. About one drop a year would be considered good.

As for those raw materials, Li Yan could feel the rich spiritual energy or power contained within them, and they felt extraordinary. Unfortunately, he was still not familiar with many of the demonic beasts, spirit grasses, and spirit medicines of the Immortal Spirit Realm.

Among these raw materials, Li Yan could probably identify about thirty percent.

“I need to find more books and jade slips of this kind. Otherwise, even if I encounter a good thing, I’ll be blind to it!”

Li Yan thought to himself. He would collect the raw materials for now. He hadn’t even cultivated the Gui-Yi Water-Parting Spike to the peak of the Late-stage Nascent Soul realm yet, so he had no plans to refine other magical treasures.

As for alchemy, he only knew and refined some low-grade medicinal pills and was not proficient. It was said that one could never have too many skills, but Li Yan felt that he didn’t have enough time.

So, he planned to find some time to have Shangguan Tianque identify these herbs and see what kind of pills they were materials for.

Among these things, Li Yan also saw six sets of formations and over a hundred talismans. Most of those talismans were defensive.

There were also some for healing and breaking through formation restrictions, which Li Yan would also need to test one by one. The thought of testing so many things gave Li Yan a headache.

But the six sets of formations could be tested immediately.

Three hours later, Li Yan, who was sitting cross-legged, looked at the small formation flashing with light on the ground in front of him, a hint of joy on his face.

These six sets of formations were all quite good. The worst of them could block a full-strength blow from a Mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. This was the foundation of the Immortal Spirit Realm.

Among them, one “Illusion Formation” and one “Protective Formation” surprised Li Yan the most.

These two sets of formations came from the Mid-stage Nascent Soul elder and Liu Huaigu, respectively.

After setting up the illusion formation, even Li Yan’s powerful Divine Sense, which was as strong as a Spirit Transformation cultivator’s, could not see through the illusion in the formation at first glance.

Even though Li Yan knew it was an illusion, he had to scan it carefully for a long time before he found some clues.

This filled Li Yan with joy. He repeatedly activated it and probed it several times before finally storing it in the “Earthen Patch” with satisfaction.

The other set of protective formations was also the type of formation he had been looking for in the market. After this formation was set up, he first used sixty percent of his physical strength to strike it in his initial test.

He felt that it should be enough to break it. His physical strength had reached the Spirit Transformation realm, which was quite terrifying.

The reason why the few defensive formations he had set up before were considered not bad was because cracks only appeared after they had taken forty to sixty percent of his strength.

But after this formation was activated, it collapsed directly under a single punch.

Li Yan was stunned for a moment. He hadn’t expected this formation to be so weak.