Chapter 1387: Already a Hundred Zhang of Ice on the Cliff (Part Three)
The female cultivator surnamed Yuan felt that if not for her intervention, the old woman surnamed He would not have been able to handle Chongyangzi alone. On the contrary, she herself might have died at his hands.
As for the dozen or so Nascent Soul cultivators from the Blood Lantern Sect and the Seven Tigers Alliance on the first level, the old woman surnamed He could just kill them. How could they possibly survive, unless they abandoned the skiff and fled for their lives.
But that would be even easier. There would be no need to waste magical power. The “Bone-Melting Wind” would easily take their lives.
Thus, she said to the old woman surnamed He in front of her with a smile.
“I’ll study the technique a bit more, and then I’ll have to focus on controlling the flying skiff. Let’s see if we can arrive at our destination ahead of schedule by dawn tomorrow. We need to move faster.”
“When we get there, we’ll immediately take away the ‘Great Nothingness Tree.’ The principle of ‘delays breed trouble’ must be grasped. Once the ‘Pure Yang Hall’ becomes aware, we’ll have no place to be buried.”
“So, the matter of cleaning up the small fish and shrimp below will have to trouble you, Fellow Daoist He. I’ll really have to trouble you.”
Her voice was soft, and the snow-white skin under her black veil undulated faintly. If a male cultivator were here, he would feel his blood boil and his mouth go dry, and he might have agreed without hesitation.
The old woman surnamed He glanced at her, displeasure in her heart.
The other party had taken control of the ring that controlled the giant skiff, as well as Chongyangzi, but continued to make her do errands.
They could, of course, send a voice transmission to let the disciples of their two sects make a move, but the other party also had an equal number of cultivators. Although their overall strength was not as good as theirs, their two families would definitely lose some disciples.
This was something that both the female cultivator surnamed Yuan and the old woman surnamed He were unwilling to see. The disciples they had brought this time were mostly at the Late-stage Nascent Soul Realm. This was also a long-established plan.
They were prepared for the worst, afraid that if something went wrong when dealing with Chongyangzi and the other two, the fight above might attract the attention of those below. In that case, they could only order the disciples below to act together.
At that time, they would need to quickly deal with the cultivators from the Blood Lantern Sect and the Seven Tigers Alliance below, and then come up to assist. No matter how strong Chongyangzi and the other two Spirit Transformation cultivators were, they would still die a bitter death on the spot.
This was a last resort.
Therefore, the Nascent Soul cultivators from the Heavenly Mountain Garden and the Spirit Subduing Manor were also completely unaware that their sects had defected. They all still thought that this was just like previous years, a fair competition for the “Great Nothingness Fruit.”
Although the old woman surnamed He was displeased that the other party was ordering her around like this, it was true that the other party had captured Chongyangzi.
Her cultivation was not as good as the female cultivator surnamed Yuan’s, and the other party also had a demon plant, a fifth-rank “Netherworld Demon Vine” that was also stronger than her.
After a short pause, she slowly nodded. Without a word, she turned and walked slowly towards the door.
After her figure disappeared from the doorway, the female cultivator surnamed Yuan gently waved her hand, and the door closed silently. She immediately sent a wisp of her Divine Sense into the ring-shaped control magical treasure in her hand…
On the first level of the giant skiff, Li Yan opened his eyes in his room.
“If I’m not mistaken, this should be the eighth day. Why are we gathering now? Have we arrived at the ‘Great Nothingness Tree’ area ahead of schedule?”
Although he thought this, since the higher-ups had already given the notice, he naturally had to go out.
However, as Li Yan stood up, he still frowned.
“Why isn’t it the Pure Yang Hall’s Chongyangzi giving the orders, but a woman’s voice…”
Because the female cultivator surnamed Yuan hadn’t said a single word in front of Li Yan and the others, Li Yan was not familiar with her voice.
However, after the teams had gathered, he had seen that it was the Daoist from the Pure Yang Hall who had been giving orders to all the families.
This sudden change in the person in command made the ever-cautious Li Yan feel a little strange.
Although he felt it was a bit unexpected, he had already walked slowly towards the door. After deactivating the restrictions, he pushed the door open and went out.
After Li Yan left the room, he saw that many people had already appeared on the deck.
Some of them had been on the deck before, and some had rooms closer to the center of the deck, so they had quickly gathered in one place after leaving their rooms.
As Li Yan was leaving his room, two other doors opened beside him. Li Yan turned his head and saw Donglin Tingyue in her silver mask on one side, and the unknown, curvaceous, and water-like beautiful woman on the other.
He didn’t know what these two had been doing in their rooms, but they were also a little slower than the others.
At this time, several nearby doors had already opened. The three Nascent Soul cultivators from the “Blood Lantern Sect,” as well as the youth named Yun Feng and others, had all quickly left their rooms, and their figures were already almost at the center of the deck.
Many of them had come this time for the reward. Since they had been notified to gather, they guessed that they were about to disembark from the flying skiff, and none of them were willing to delay here any longer.
And the cultivators from the other three teams also appeared on the deck one after another, but many of them had a puzzled look on their faces. These were basically all who had participated in the competition for the “Great Nothingness Fruit” before.
They were wondering why they had arrived at the designated area nearly two days ahead of schedule this time.
The curvaceous and beautiful woman on one side of Li Yan’s room had already learned that Li Yan and Donglin Tingyue were familiar with each other from the past few days, so she nodded at them.
She was not a direct disciple of the “Blood Lantern Sect” either, and she would have to deal with Li Yan and the others later, so she would not keep them at a distance. Then she walked towards the center on her own.
Upon seeing Li Yan, Donglin Tingyue paused slightly, obviously waiting for Li Yan to go with her.
Li Yan also smiled and walked towards Donglin Tingyue.
Soon, the two of them walked side by side, also towards the center of the deck.
“By the way, this is only the eighth day. Have we already reached the ‘Great Nothingness Tree’ area of the secret realm?” Li Yan asked softly.
“This… I’m not too sure about this. It’s not a major matter, so the family’s Grand Elder and the others didn’t mention it before I came. They only said it would be about a ten-day journey!”
After hearing Li Yan’s question, a trace of confusion also flashed in Donglin Tingyue’s eyes. She didn’t know about this either, but she didn’t think it was anything.
As the two walked forward, their gazes naturally fell on the growing crowd in the center of the deck ahead.
As he walked, Li Yan heard some discussions from the crowd. His Divine Sense was powerful, and even without eavesdropping, at this distance, the sounds would still enter his mind.
Among them, several people were whispering, and the content was also guessing the reason for arriving early. Some said it was because the magical treasure’s flying speed had increased, while others said it might be because the route had been changed.
Li Yan just listened to this. Anyway, they should be disembarking from the flying skiff soon. And during the upcoming competition for the “Great Nothingness Fruit,” how he could obtain one was the plan he had been pondering all along.
As Li Yan and Donglin Tingyue walked forward, they got closer and closer to the center of the deck. The dozens of cultivators ahead were already a bustling crowd.
And at this moment, Li Yan’s eyes moved, because among these discussions, he heard the whispers of several other people.
“The voice that just transmitted to the first level, how was it the Grand Elder’s voice!”
“That’s right. Before reaching the ‘Great Nothingness’ area, all matters here should be managed by the ‘Pure Yang Hall’…”
“Did we hear wrong? Could it be that the ‘Pure Yang Hall’ has made a change this time, and there is also a female senior on top…”
“You’re just talking nonsense. This flying skiff was taken out directly from Senior Chongyangzi’s storage pouch…”
Li Yan immediately focused his gaze. It was several young female cultivators, some with delicate and pretty appearances, some with gorgeous ones, whispering to each other. Li Yan recognized them. They were several late-stage Nascent Soul female disciples from the “Heavenly Mountain Garden.”
Hearing these words made Li Yan’s heart involuntarily “thump.” After countless near-death experiences, what these “Heavenly Mountain Garden” disciples said actually gave him a bad, heart-palpitating feeling.
‘So it was the veiled female cultivator from the Heavenly Mountain Garden who gave the orders. Where is Chongyangzi?’
In an instant, his powerful Divine Sense swept in one direction. Because his Divine Sense had already reached the Spirit Transformation level, when he released it, no one here noticed at all.
Even Donglin Tingyue beside him, at this time, was also looking straight ahead at the crowd, and likewise did not feel any Divine Sense fluctuation from Li Yan.
Li Yan’s Divine Sense instantly reached the corner of the bow of the skiff. A little further in from there was the staircase leading to the second level.
There, a white light screen blocked the entrance to the stairs, preventing one’s Divine Sense from probing what was above.
Li Yan hesitated for a moment, but still sent his Divine Sense directly into the white light screen. The uneasiness in his heart made him want to find the source of his unease.
In an instant, his Divine Sense seemed to have entered an endless sea of clouds. Within the white light screen, there was no sense of direction at all.
After his Divine Sense entered, the clouds churned even more violently. His Divine Sense was in a daze for a moment, making one instantly lose their sense of direction.
But at this moment, a gentle breeze suddenly blew from above the clouds. Although it was just a gentle breeze, it swept away the clouds in front of him in an instant.
And then, Li Yan saw a withered and old hand parting the clouds. The scene behind was instantly revealed, showing a long staircase, and a figure parting the clouds.
The moment the other party parted the clouds, although Li Yan’s Divine Sense only caught a hasty and blurry glimpse, he could still make out that it was an old woman, with her head half-bowed, as if she was pondering something.
One of her hands was stretched out towards the white light screen in front of her, with magical power surging from it. Her other hand was holding the handrail of the stairs, and she was slowly walking down the steps.
She had already reached the last few steps of the stairs, and the white mist behind her had already dissipated…
Li Yan’s Divine Sense only caught a fleeting glimpse before immediately withdrawing.
On the deck, Li Yan, who was walking, immediately stopped in his tracks, his pupils shrinking violently.
“Something’s not right! Why is Chongyangzi still not here! Where are the people from the ‘Pure Yang Hall’?”
And as Li Yan suddenly stopped, the voice of the “Heavenly Mountain Garden” female disciple echoed in his mind again.
“That’s right. Before reaching the ‘Great Nothingness’ area, all matters here should be managed by the ‘Pure Yang Hall’…”
Li Yan’s unusual behavior made Donglin Tingyue, who was walking beside him, also stop. She turned her head, her half-mask facing Li Yan, a look of confusion in her beautiful eyes.
“Fellow Daoist Li, you are…”
But before she could finish, Li Yan’s voice immediately sounded in her mind.
“Something’s not right. We’ll talk later!”
And what shocked Donglin Tingyue even more was that as Li Yan spoke, he suddenly reached out, grabbed her wrist, and a great force was immediately transmitted.
Donglin Tingyue would never have thought that Li Yan, who was standing beside her, would suddenly make a move.
Before she could finish speaking, she felt her wrist being grabbed by a large hand. She immediately felt her blood freeze, and her words stopped as the confusion in her beautiful eyes turned into a stunned daze.
She would never have dreamed that in broad daylight, Li Yan, whom she had always considered a polite gentleman, would… would suddenly grab her hand, without any sense of propriety.
In the instant Donglin Tingyue was stunned, a great force directly dragged her diagonally into the air!
Before this, she had never thought that she, a dignified Nascent Soul cultivator, would not even have the ability to resist a little.
Subconsciously, her cherry lips parted, and she was about to scream.
But unexpectedly, as if Li Yan knew what would happen next, as he lifted Donglin Tingyue’s body diagonally, his other hand twisted into a palm and scooped upwards.
A gust of wind instantly rushed towards her face, forcefully suppressing Donglin Tingyue’s scream.
A breath of air was violently forced back into her chest. This almost caused Donglin Tingyue to suffer an internal injury. She felt as if all her internal organs were blocked.
On the spot, Li Yan and Donglin Tingyue vanished in an instant. Only a gust of wind quietly rose, reaching the back in the blink of an eye and entering the nearest room. But the door was not closed, but was open like the other rooms on the side.
All of this happened too quickly. Because most of the people on the deck were talking to their own team members at this time, or were simply looking at the corner of the stairs at the bow, no one noticed what was happening behind them.
At the bow, at the corner of the stairs, the old woman surnamed He, who was walking down the stairs, suddenly paused, a look of suspicion on her face.
“Eh?”
She couldn’t help but let out a soft exclamation.