Chapter 1406: Toppling the Five Sacred Mountains
The Yuan-surnamed female cultivator never would have imagined that the staircase passage, just probed by the green-robed elder a moment ago, would suddenly harbor another trap.
They were both Late-stage Spirit Transformation experts, yet their opponent’s methods were so formidable that even when they were on guard, they still failed to evade it.
What the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator didn’t know was that Li Yan had been waiting for her to appear, relying solely on his naked eye.
Moreover, the profundity of the Gui Water Immortal Sect’s “Stealthy Night Art” was among the top-tier of Immortal Arts in the entire Immortal Spirit Realm.
With Li Yan himself being comparable to a Spirit Transformation cultivator, unless he was being probed by a cultivator at Void Refining or above, it was extremely difficult to discover his presence.
This sudden turn of events made the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator’s heart tighten for no reason, but her body was already sinking into an invisible, gaping maw.
The green-robed elder was in front of her. Although the staircase was nearly thirty zhang long, to them, it was as if it were right before their eyes.
By the time he realized something was wrong, his rapidly descending body was already more than halfway into that formless mouth, leaving only his head exposed. The green-robed elder was horrified.
The suction force from below had appeared too suddenly, materializing out of thin air just as his feet were about to touch the deck of the first floor.
He had not expected that after so many years of seclusion, the one time he came out to help would lead him into such a perilous situation without any warning.
As more than half of his body entered, the suction from below grew even stronger. By the time he noticed, he could no longer even pull his hands out.
“Go!”
In the midst of the crisis, the green-robed elder shouted. From the top of his head, a vine as thick as a finger shot towards the upper diagonal, aiming for the handrail on the side of the staircase.
He wanted to use the leverage to pull his body a little higher out of the invisible maw, which would then allow him to use more of his arts and divine abilities.
The Yuan-surnamed woman behind him also plummeted in an instant. Only her chest and shoulders were visible; the lower half of her body had similarly vanished.
The Yuan-surnamed female cultivator’s hands and legs were also being torn by the suction from the seemingly endless abyss below, and for a moment, she too was unable to pull herself out.
In the crisis, she quickly stabilized her body, knowing that if she wanted to pull her limbs free, it would be impossible in a short period.
Her shoulders also trembled rapidly, and a black silk ribbon shot out straight towards the upper diagonal, like a black long spear, stabbing towards the wall on the side of the staircase.
But at this moment, both of them were already trapped in the formless maw. The strong suction from below grew stronger with each passing moment, making the two items they had deployed fly out at a less than rapid pace.
At this moment, at the staircase entrance below, when Li Yan discovered that there were actually two Spirit Transformation cultivators, it was already too late for him to stop the teleportation pull.
The people on both sides were like they had suddenly encountered a battle. One side had launched an attack in haste, while the other had begun to resist in an instant.
The veins on Li Yan’s forehead and neck bulged. His Magical Power and Divine Sense circulated wildly without any regard for the cost, and his figure gradually revealed itself from its concealed state.
To pull in two Spirit Transformation cultivators into the teleportation channel at once, with them reacting and struggling, Li Yan could only give it his all.
However, it was fortunate that the other party had not reacted in time and was already trapped. But even with Li Yan frantically activating the pull, the two of them were still not teleported away.
Seeing the two of them each shoot out their own anchoring items, Li Yan was alarmed. If they succeeded, his efforts might be in vain. Then, apart from abandoning the boat and fleeing, there would be no other way out.
Li Yan had no choice but to flick his hand, and two streaks of black light, as well as a circular plate, shot out.
And at the instant Li Yan’s figure was slightly revealed, it was also the moment when the two falling figures had just shot out the vine and the black silk ribbon.
The two of them finally saw Li Yan’s figure at this moment. It was just that Li Yan was still in a concealed state, so they could only see a faint figure and could not make out his appearance, whether he was male or female.
But they immediately sensed the strength of the other party’s Divine Sense.
‘A Spirit Transformation cultivator!’
‘Spirit Transformation… you son of a bitch!’
A thought simultaneously flashed through both their minds. Although Li Yan’s Divine Sense was weaker than theirs, its intensity was indeed at the Spirit Transformation level.
In addition, the two of them couldn’t distinguish carefully at this time. The Yuan-surnamed female cultivator was even more convinced that the other party was the old woman surnamed He from Spirit Subduing Manor.
Because Li Yan had diverted his Magical Power and Divine Sense to deploy two magical treasures, the suction from below slackened for a moment. This allowed the bodies of the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator and the other to instantly shoot up a section.
And the vine and black silk ribbon they had shot out also suddenly accelerated, just barely reaching the staircase.
Just as the two items were about to make contact, two streaks of black light suddenly appeared at a faster speed and struck the flying vine and black silk ribbon.
“Bang! Bang!”
The items deployed by both sides instantly collided.
The Yuan-surnamed female cultivator and the green-robed elder only felt a force strike the black silk ribbon and the vine, but the intensity of the shock that came from it made them both stunned.
Because the strength of the Magical Power that came from above seemed to be that of an Initial-stage Spirit Transformation, but it also seemed not to be. And it should be water-attribute Magical Power, not the old woman surnamed He’s fire-attribute Magical Power.
But they had also deployed their arts in a hurry and could not exert their true power, nor did they have more time to think.
The black silk ribbon and the vine were still shaken by the two streaks of black light, but they immediately bounced the black light away.
And with just this slight obstruction, from above their heads, a red and white Taiji yin-yang fish, rotating rapidly, came down on them.
At the instant the black light blocked the black silk ribbon and the vine, the Taiji yin-yang fish had already covered the entire staircase passage, and these two items were immediately submerged in it.
Then, the black silk ribbon and the vine were as if they had been ground to pieces.
All of this, both sides’ attacks were in an instant. Although the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator and the green-robed elder were not able to escape directly, they also took this opportunity to make Li Yan divide his Divine Sense power.
This allowed their bodies to be pulled up another foot at the instant the black silk ribbon and the vine were shattered. Even the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator’s originally vanished arm was revealed up to her wrist.
And the green-robed elder also revealed half of his chest. The two of them were extremely experienced in fighting.
With another thought, this time, three black silk ribbons and seven or eight vines shot out from above their heads again.
They had already seen that the opponent’s strength was at most Initial-stage Spirit Transformation. This trap should be a grand killing formation. While the opponent was controlling the grand formation, they could not attack the two of them at the same time.
At this time, as long as they distracted the opponent’s Divine Sense power, they could quickly leave from here.
Just as these black silk ribbons and vines flew out and once again hit the red and white Taiji yin-yang fish above, a stone emitting a yellow glow and a copper bell suddenly appeared beside the heads of the two.
The moment these two magical treasures appeared, they brought with them the sound of breaking through the air and slammed hard towards the heads of the two. Both of them were alarmed. A layer of vine armor immediately appeared on the green-robed elder’s head.
And the black veil on the Yuan-surnamed woman’s face moved without wind, suddenly extending and wrapping around the yellow stone that was coming at her.
Then, the copper bell suddenly stopped in mid-air and did not continue to smash down, but instead emitted a series of strange bell sounds.
This made the green-robed elder, who had originally thought he was going to be attacked by the magical treasure and had put up a defense, defend against nothing. This caused him to make a misjudgment.
At the same time, a bell sound was transmitted, and his Hun and Po souls actually trembled slightly. This caused a slight lag in the green-robed elder’s Divine Sense and Magical Power.
The Yuan-surnamed female cultivator was also attacked by this bell sound, and her Hun and Po souls also became unstable. And at the same time, while her veil was wrapping around the yellow stone, her Sea of Consciousness also felt waves of discomfort.
But the discomfort of the two of them was only for an instant, not even half a breath, and they immediately woke up.
This was because Li Yan didn’t know how deep the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator’s poison was, and he still focused his attacks on her.
Although these two magical treasures, with the opponent trapped, still couldn’t affect them too much, it was just this delay in the flash of a spark that the many harassing attacks Li Yan made finally had a little effect.
In the next moment, the awakened Yuan-surnamed female cultivator and the green-robed elder saw the faint shadow spit out a large mouthful of blood, and the gravitational pull in the formless maw below suddenly increased by about thirty percent.
“Bang!”
The Fuxi Plate was immediately sent flying.
“Not good, this is the power of teleportation!”
“Damn it!”
The two cried out in their hearts, but that moment of distraction caused them to be submerged in a void.
And Li Yan’s figure at this moment had completely revealed itself at the staircase entrance. Blood was flowing from his mouth, eyes, nose, and ears. His whole person looked extremely ferocious, standing there like a fierce ghost.
His chest heaved violently as he gasped for breath. His face was also extremely pale, and his whole head felt like it was about to split open.
Li Yan’s body swayed continuously. No longer able to control his body, he fell to the ground. He wondered if another crack had appeared in his Sea of Consciousness.
In the final blow just now, he had used all the Divine Sense he had reserved for defense. He had even withdrawn all the Divine Sense controlling the Fuxi Plate, which caused the Fuxi Plate to be directly sent flying.
This was the first time he had completely abandoned his defense and used one hundred percent of his Divine Sense power!
Compared to his time on the Desolate Moon Continent, his strength had now improved by about twenty percent, and his Divine Sense power had also strengthened again.
But even when the opponent was completely unprepared and had already fallen in with more than half of his body, his strength reduced by more than half, Li Yan still almost failed to complete this ambush.
Fortunately, after the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator was poisoned, she had to use several portions of her Magical Power to suppress the potent poison, greatly reducing her strength. In addition, at the end, he had used the Immortal-Striking Stone and the Copper Bell, which finally caused the other party’s mind to have a slight, imperceptible lapse. Li Yan had finally completed the sneak attack.
Li Yan sat below the staircase, but was still within the corner. Although there was some noise from the events that had occurred here, Donglin Tingyue and Jia Fugui did not dare to release their Divine Sense to probe after hearing it.
They were frightened by the figure of the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator that had appeared before and had shrunk in place. Not to mention releasing their Divine Sense, they had even suppressed their own auras to the minimum.
Even if they were worried about Li Yan, they also felt that they were like mud bodhisattvas crossing a river, unable to save even themselves.
At this moment, they were constantly praying in their hearts, hoping that the flying boat could quickly reach the “Great Nothingness Tree” area.
Therefore, the two of them did not know that Li Yan’s figure had already appeared at the corner of the staircase.
As waves of dizziness assaulted him, Li Yan gasped for breath for dozens of breaths. It was not until he felt his vision become somewhat clear that he endured the severe pain and immediately probed his Sea of Consciousness. A moment later, his heart relaxed slightly.
He looked around, then raised his arm and wiped away the streaks of blood on his face, making him look slightly better.
He only had about ten percent of his Divine Sense power left. His Sea of Consciousness had not collapsed, it was just over-exhausted. This made Li Yan feel relieved. Otherwise, he would have no more True Essence Pills.
Then, he first retrieved several magical treasures, then waved his hand repeatedly. One after another, formation flags flew out and quickly sank into the deck.
Li Yan successively set up four formations, including illusion formations and defensive formations. Then, with a slight flicker of his body, he entered the center of the formations.
Here, there were still those potent poisons he had arranged circling around, which added another layer of protection.
Then, Li Yan immediately sat down cross-legged, took out a red jade bottle, and with a flip of his hand, swallowed five red pills.
These pills were bought by him in the market and had a certain therapeutic effect on damage to the Sea of Consciousness. Of course, compared to the True Essence Pill, they were a world of difference.
But they still had a certain effect in aiding recovery.
Ever since his Sea of Consciousness was severely damaged that one time, Li Yan had paid special attention to auxiliary pills for the divine soul and the Sea of Consciousness.
It was just that this type of pill was both expensive and high-grade, making it hard to find. But as long as he could find them, Li Yan would prepare some on his person, regardless of their grade.
After swallowing the pills, Li Yan sat cross-legged here and began to circulate his cultivation art.
After he had sent the two people into the “Earthen Patch,” Li Yan had also instantly separated them and temporarily trapped them in a certain place.
As long as the other party entered the “Earthen Patch,” these things were just a matter of a thought for him, just like when he usually put something into storage.
This was to prevent them from running around in the “Earthen Patch” and even slaughtering the Snow Mosquito clan.
An hour and a half later, Li Yan slowly opened his eyes. His face was still pale.
He felt that he should do less of this kind of thing of luring others into the “Earthen Patch” in the future. For those with lower cultivation than him, he didn’t need to use it at all and could just attack directly.
For those with higher cultivation than him, every time he used it, his Sea of Consciousness would be in danger of shattering.
And what happened this time was also too dangerous. Two Spirit Transformation cultivators had fallen at the same time. If it weren’t for the fact that Li Yan’s cultivation had improved again over the years through comprehending the Fuxi Plate, the final result might have been that no matter what, just by using his Divine Sense so forcefully at the end, he himself would have fainted first.
With a sweep of his Divine Sense, Li Yan saw the upper and lower floors, and he couldn’t help but frown repeatedly. This was not because he had discovered something wrong again.
It was because as soon as he used his Divine Sense, it felt as if thousands of sharp blades were constantly cutting in his Sea of Consciousness. The unrestrained use before had still caused some damage to his Sea of Consciousness.
On the entire flying boat, in his Divine Sense, only he was left. Donglin Tingyue and Jia Fugui had also hidden somewhere unknown.
Li Yan didn’t want to go find the two of them immediately at this moment. He had to deal with the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator and the other in the “Earthen Patch” first.
After confirming that there was no one else on the flying boat, Li Yan remained in the formation and immediately a wave of Divine Sense entered the “Earthen Patch.”
In the far west of the “Earthen Patch,” there was a desert. Although there was a sky above, there were no sun, moon, or stars, only five huge rings, one inside the other.
The green-robed old man had been standing here for a long time.
He didn’t know where he was. He could see that the five-colored rings in the sky corresponded to the power of the five elements, and the strongest here was the power of fire.
His original body was a demon plant, so he disliked the fire attribute very much, but he was most fond of the wood and water attributes.
Just by staying here for a moment, he felt his breathing become heavy. The concentration of fire-attribute spiritual energy here, to be honest, was not denser than the fire spiritual energy in some places in the Immortal Spirit Realm.
But it was unexpectedly pure. This made every breath he took, the damage brought by the fire spiritual energy was not as simple as high-temperature burning. These fire spiritual energies were constantly trying to invade his meridians.
“Where on earth is this? This is definitely not some special secret realm. No one can carry the entrance to a secret realm with them. This should be a special magical treasure…”
The green-robed old man thought. He had been trying to get out of here for a long time, but he found that he was trapped within a thousand zhang.
No matter how he attacked, flew, or used the Earth Evasion Art, he still couldn’t get out of here. The sky, the ground, and the surroundings were all sealed.
He didn’t know how many years he had lived. He was originally a dying person. After being saved again, his temperament had become more and more silent, and his view of things had also become different.
Although he was in a dangerous situation, he did not show anger or mania.
At this time, he was observing the five rings in the sky, trying to get some inspiration from them.
“Why in this magical treasure, would the power of the five elements be deliberately left behind, instead of simply the power of fire? Wouldn’t that be easier to refine? Could it be that this is a magical treasure with the commonality of the five elements…”
His pair of aged eyes stared at the top, thinking carefully.
And at a certain moment, his expression suddenly changed, and he suddenly turned his body to the side.
Turning his head, he saw that in the sky on one side, a figure had appeared at some unknown time.
It was a young man with an indifferent expression, ordinary appearance, and a tall stature. A head of short hair made him look full of energy.
The young man, in a green robe, just stood in the air like that. His eyes showed no color, only endless indifference.
Because the green-robed old man had been hiding in the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator’s storage space from the very beginning, he did not know Li Yan.
The moment he saw Li Yan, he remembered the blurry figure he had seen at the instant he was sucked in by the formless giant mouth.
“It seems we were both wrong. It wasn’t Fellow Daoist He from Spirit Subduing Manor after all. Who might you be?”
After the two looked at each other for more than ten breaths, the green-robed old man finally spoke first.
He didn’t know what the other party meant by appearing but not attacking or speaking.
In these ten-odd breaths, he had also been constantly guessing the other party’s origin.
The other party was a Spirit Transformation cultivator, so he must have been brought into the flying boat by someone else using a spirit-storing pouch, and only suddenly attacked at a critical moment.
He just didn’t know who had brought the green-robed youth in. But he had a rough guess of this person’s origin. It should be the old woman surnamed He from Spirit Subduing Manor who had brought him into the flying boat.
The storage space magical treasures of the other people had all been divided between the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator and the old woman surnamed He.
Then there were two possibilities for this person’s appearance:
One was that the other party was hidden in the storage space that the old woman surnamed He had divided. He had escaped by some method and might have already attacked the old woman surnamed He.
The second was that the other party was brought by the old woman surnamed He, also for a bigger scheme.
Of course, he was more inclined to the second guess. After all, the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator had transmitted her voice to him before, saying that she seemed to have seen the old woman surnamed He on the first floor deck. Then this person should be on the same side as the other party.