Chapter 1410: Shedding Involvement (Part Two)

Although Chongyangzi remembered many things, his mind was still in a daze. But his first instinct was to look for the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator.

That was the most profound memory, the person who had brought him immense harm. It was almost a subconscious, instinctual reaction.

In this subconscious reaction, Chongyangzi ignored the discomfort coming from his Sea of Consciousness and his soul, and immediately began to search around. But he did not find any cultivator who could threaten him.

He then intended to immediately go to the first floor of the flying boat to search. But just as he turned around, he once again saw the short-haired youth covered in blood.

The other party’s face was somewhat pale, his aura extremely unstable, and he was still looking at him in horror.

Chongyangzi’s figure, which was about to disappear, paused for a moment, and he suddenly looked at the short-haired youth.

He remembered that it was this person who had just been calling him. And this person was only a Nascent Soul cultivator. Why was he here?

In the next instant, he was in front of the short-haired youth. His terrifying speed and expression seemed to startle the short-haired youth even more. His figure retreated several steps again, and at the same time he said, “Senior, I…”

“Who are you? Why are you here? Where are the others?”

Before the short-haired youth could finish, Chongyangzi had already asked in succession. He controlled his monstrous killing intent. He had actually been plotted against, and even soul-searched.

But this short-haired youth had seemed to have been calling out to him just now, which was why he had not immediately attacked him.

“I… I am Li Yan, a cultivator from a subordinate sect of the Blood Lantern Sect. There… there is no one else here…”

“No one else… what do you mean?”

When Chongyangzi heard Li Yan say there was no one else, he was stunned. He did not understand what the other party was trying to express.

Chen Xingshan and the big man from the Seven Tigers Alliance were dead. This was an indisputable fact.

But what about the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator and that high-level “Netherworld Demon Vine”? And where was the old woman surnamed He? Why was there no trace of them at all?

But it couldn’t be said that there was no trace at all. On this deck, there were still some vine branches and leaves scattered around. This aura was from the “Netherworld Demon Vine.”

“S… Senior, the… the people here are… all dead…”

Li Yan seemed to be having trouble breathing due to being locked by Chongyangzi’s aura, and he swallowed his saliva with difficulty…

Dozens of breaths later, after listening to Li Yan’s brief account, Chongyangzi’s eyes showed a look of disbelief.

Then his figure blurred and he appeared at the staircase, but he was unable to rush down and was blocked by a layer of formation restriction.

Chongyangzi carefully identified it. This should be a set of formations used by the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator. He then snorted coldly. Without a formation-breaking magical treasure or tool, he immediately began to perform hand seals and cast a restriction-breaking art.

After a short while, the formation restriction, which was no longer controlled by its master, flashed wildly with a green light, accompanied by the sound of a mirror shattering.

Chongyangzi’s figure immediately disappeared from the second floor deck. Then, a whirlwind swept through the first floor of the flying boat.

In less than ten breaths of time, Chongyangzi’s figure appeared in front of Li Yan again. The time he spent searching below was even shorter than above.

At this time, Chongyangzi looked at Li Yan with a different gaze, sizing him up from head to toe.

Li Yan seemed to be a little afraid of being looked at by him and subconsciously moved his feet.

“You set this poison?”

As Chongyangzi spoke, he had already wrapped a cloud of red and blue mist with his Magical Power.

The cloud of red and blue mist was like a colorful centipede, constantly darting left and right in his magical power confinement, trying to rush out.

Chongyangzi had also quickly investigated just now. This cloud of red and blue mist, as Li Yan had said, was indeed a considerable threat to Spirit Transformation cultivators.

Although it could not kill on contact, if one was poisoned by it, it would definitely be a lot of trouble.

If the other party hadn’t reminded him that there were still some potent poisons set up at the corner of the stairs on the first floor, he might have accidentally touched it just now.

“Yes, Senior. This junior bought it in a market once!”

Li Yan bowed and saluted, his attitude respectful.

Chongyangzi looked at the short-haired youth opposite him, who was covered in blood and had an unstable aura.

At this moment, he was also half-believing and half-doubting Li Yan. What the other party had just said made him feel a little incredible.

But after a rough search on the flying boat and seeing the cloud of potent poison in his hand, he couldn’t help but believe it a little. This was indeed something that could threaten a Spirit Transformation cultivator.

He had never seen this kind of poison before, but the Immortal Spirit Realm was too vast. Chongyangzi was born in the Immortal Spirit Realm, so of course he knew that his understanding of the Immortal Spirit Realm was probably not even a drop in the ocean.

As long as you had Spirit Stones and Immortal Fortune, it was not impossible to obtain potent poison that could kill a Body Integration cultivator. Of course, normally, low-level cultivators would almost never see too high-level treasures.

But for a Nascent Soul to obtain a treasure that could kill a Spirit Transformation, this should not be too rare an event.

Although he had only made a quick tour, apart from the two corpses above and Li Yan, the other cultivators were really gone.

Of course, he could be sure that at this time, the flying boat was still passing through the desert. He himself wouldn’t dare to enter the “Bone-Melting Wind” outside, so the others would definitely not leave here on their own initiative.

“You said the Spirit Transformation cultivator from Spirit Subduing Manor slaughtered you all?”

Remembering Li Yan’s brief description just now, Chongyangzi’s heart flashed with heavy suspicion.

Before, according to this cultivator named Li Yan, when they were still on the first floor of the flying boat, the old woman surnamed He suddenly went down and immediately started a great slaughter.

She had almost slaughtered all the cultivators except for Spirit Subduing Manor and Heavenly Mountain Garden.

And in the end, it was this Nascent Soul cultivator in front of him who had relied on a hidden magical treasure to protect himself, set up a trap on the deck, and found a glimmer of hope for survival.

According to this Li Yan, he was a Body Cultivator, and his body refining art had already reached a decent level, able to exert the power of a Late-stage Nascent Soul.

He had taken advantage of the old woman surnamed He’s unpreparedness and had used all his strength to knock her out of the boat.

It was rare for a Late-stage Nascent Soul to be able to force back a Spirit Transformation cultivator, but if it was a sneak attack, a Spirit Transformation cultivator who did not cultivate the physical body might really be forced back.

Especially if the attacker was a Body Cultivator known for his strength. But generally, it would only be a momentary dodge and buffer. The next moment would definitely be the death of the Nascent Soul cultivator.

But here, close to the railing, the result of being knocked out was completely different.

So, although Chongyangzi felt it was possible, he didn’t quite believe it.

It was just that at this moment, Li Yan’s aura was already very weak, so he couldn’t be sure how much power the other party could exert at his peak.

After that, Li Yan said that while he was sneak-attacking the old woman surnamed He, he had also sneak-attacked many of the Nascent Soul cultivators from Heavenly Mountain Garden and Spirit Subduing Manor who were searching for them on the deck.

With the old woman surnamed He out of the picture, and with the help of the remaining Blood Lantern Sect and Seven Tigers Alliance cultivators, they had ended up fighting to the death with the two teams from Heavenly Mountain Garden and Spirit Subduing Manor, with both sides almost wiped out.

Here, Li Yan did not say that he was the main killer, but borrowed the name of other cultivators. He knew that if he said such a thing, it would only make the current Chongyangzi even more suspicious.

This kind of thing would naturally be explained by others later. The process was reasonable and true. At most, his body refining cultivation, which was close to the strength of a Spirit Transformation, would be exposed later.

And here, Li Yan also spoke very vaguely. He didn’t say how many cultivators from the Blood Lantern Sect and the Seven Tigers Alliance had helped him.

But there were indeed quite a few. Li Yan had used the Nascent Soul cultivators from the two teams who had hidden in the rooms at the end to fight against the other party to distract the enemy’s strength and attention.

It was just that in the end, only Donglin Tingyue and Jia Fugui were able to fight the other party head-on.

Li Yan had said these things, but he was still thinking a little too much for the time being. For the Chongyangzi of just now, he did not immediately ask for details.

Chongyangzi wanted to know more about the news of the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator and that terrifying spirit plant.

Li Yan then said that after their successful sneak attack below, they were afraid that more Spirit Transformation cultivators would come down from above, so they had set up a type of potent poison that could threaten Spirit Transformation cultivators at the only passage, the staircase.

But just after he had set up the illusion formation and the potent poison, and was hesitating whether to go up to investigate, someone came down from above.

This gave Li Yan a big scare. Fortunately, he had used a magical treasure to conceal his aura, and the other party did not notice him.

Then, he saw the female Spirit Transformation cultivator from Heavenly Mountain Garden walk down. Her body was also stained with a lot of blood, and she looked seriously injured.

Perhaps it was because of her injuries that the other party did not discover the trap Li Yan had set at the staircase in the first place, and instead plunged headlong into it.

By the time this Spirit Transformation cultivator realized something was wrong, she had already hurriedly retreated upwards.

Li Yan, who had originally planned to go up to investigate and find out what had happened on the flying boat, saw that the other party was seriously injured and had also been poisoned. He finally gritted his teeth and quietly followed her to the second floor.

The Yuan-surnamed female cultivator staggered to the second floor deck and immediately waved her hand to take out a set of formation tools. Just as Li Yan had just followed her up, she had set up a formation at the staircase.

And Li Yan, who had immediately hidden to one side, also saw the scene on the second floor deck, which almost made him unable to suppress his aura.

He saw bloodstains all over the deck, and several people were already lying there, including Chongyangzi, who was lying among a few scattered vines. On the other side was Chen Xingshan’s corpse.

And that female cultivator from Heavenly Mountain Garden, after setting up the formation and sealing the only passage between the upper and lower floors, walked to Chongyangzi’s side.

She actually stuck a few more sealing talismans on Chongyangzi, looking afraid that he would wake up.

Then, she took out a bottle of pills and swallowed them, while at the same time seeming to curse the old woman from Spirit Subduing Manor, something about betraying her trust and so on.

Li Yan observed for a while longer and found that the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator began to heal herself.

So Li Yan thought of before, it was this Yuan-surnamed cultivator who had transmitted her voice to the rooms on the first floor and asked them to gather on the deck. She had also said that Chen Xingshan had sneak-attacked Chongyangzi.

But looking at the current situation, the other party was not helping Chongyangzi heal at all, but had sealed him.

In addition, the old woman surnamed He’s attack just now was only against the cultivators of the Blood Lantern Sect and the Seven Tigers Alliance. That undoubtedly meant that the old woman surnamed He and the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator were in the same camp.

Li Yan also knew the number of Spirit Transformation cultivators above. Seeing the scene before him, he finally made up his mind and decided to sneak-attack the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator again. Otherwise, when her injuries recovered a little, he would be dead.

So, he once again approached the deck railing and slowly made some noise. Sure enough, the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator, who was recovering, opened her eyes in hesitation.

But after a careful investigation, she did not find anyone else. But she finally stood up and went to the staircase first, carefully checking the formation restriction, but found no problems.

Then, she walked towards the place where the noise was made…

In the end, what surprised Li Yan was that when he was nervously gathering his strength for a desperate sneak attack, he did not expect the result to be unexpectedly smooth. He had knocked the other party out of the flying boat with one blow.

The Yuan-surnamed female cultivator was seriously injured, and her combat power was not as strong as Li Yan had imagined. Perhaps because she was also poisoned, Li Yan felt that her combat power at that time was probably only slightly higher than that of a Late-stage Nascent Soul…

Chongyangzi thought about Li Yan’s previous description, and he looked at the bodies of Chen Xingshan and the big man on the ground. The two of them had died tragically. One had his Nascent Soul missing, and the other’s Nascent Soul was still there, but his death was also extremely tragic.

It was clear that they had had a fierce battle with someone before they died.

‘Three against two? In the end, Chen Xingshan and the other, seeing that they were no match, probably activated a forbidden art. In the end, it resulted in one death and two injuries. The Netherworld Demon Vine died on the spot, while Yuan and He were injured. And the old witch He Hong might have been relatively lightly injured, so she was allowed to go down to the first floor to slaughter those Nascent Soul cultivators. Only in this way can it be more reasonably explained why a Mid-stage Spirit Transformation cultivator had an accident under the sneak attack of a Nascent Soul…’

Chongyangzi looked at the bloodstains scattered all over the second floor deck and the tragic state of the corpses, and couldn’t help but think to himself.

Although there was a gap between Late-stage and Mid-stage Spirit Transformation cultivators, even if Chen Xingshan and the other were not as strong as the other party, it was not as disparate as the gap between Late-stage Nascent Soul and the earlier stages.

They were all cultivators who had comprehended the rules of heaven and earth. In a burst of desperation before death, once they used a forbidden art of mutual destruction, in this narrow space, with no way to escape outside the boat, they could also severely injure a Late-stage Spirit Transformation person.

As for why the old woman surnamed He was lightly injured, her cultivation was lower, so she should have been used as a backup to ambush Chen Xingshan and the other.

So, to kill Chen Xingshan and the other as quickly as possible, it must have been the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator and that “Netherworld Demon Vine” who were the main attackers.

Chongyangzi withdrew his gaze and looked at Li Yan again.

“You were well prepared for this scramble. You even brought a concealment magical treasure that even the Divine Sense of a Spirit Transformation cultivator can’t see through!”

After saying this, he stopped talking.

Overall, although what this young man in front of him said was reasonable, he still couldn’t believe it.

But the results before him, he couldn’t find a reason to doubt. The key was that the bodies of the three main enemies had all disappeared. This was too coincidental.

And even the Nascent Soul cultivators from Heavenly Mountain Garden and Spirit Subduing Manor below, not a single complete corpse was left.

“Senior, it is a fact that Senior He slaughtered us and the cultivators of the Seven Tigers Alliance on the first floor. If senior doesn’t believe it, there are still two living cultivators from the Blood Lantern Sect below…”

“Oh, right. You said before that you had other Nascent Soul cultivators helping you. There are still two people alive below?”

Only then did Chongyangzi remember what Li Yan had said before, that there were other people helping him.

But he had been so focused on the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator and the others just now that he hadn’t paid much attention to those Nascent Soul cultivators.

When he went down before, he hadn’t found any living people. There were only bloodstains and many corpses and limbs on the deck. Of course, he wouldn’t piece them together and count the number of people.

“Yes, we can go down and let them come out!” Li Yan said so.

Hearing Li Yan say this, a gleam of light flashed in Chongyangzi’s eyes.

‘This kid is very careful. He’s afraid that I’ll covet his concealment magical treasure, and at the same time, he feels that I don’t quite believe his words. He wants to find other people to prove it, and although I only roughly searched all the rooms just now, I really didn’t find anyone hiding. He also wants to use the concealment magical treasures of other people, which can temporarily deceive me, to prove that he can do it too…’

In an area at the stern of the boat on the first floor, Donglin Tingyue was transmitting her voice to Jia Fugui.

Just now, they seemed to have sensed a gust of wind blowing across the first floor deck. There was a pale blue light shield defense outside here, so a whirlwind wouldn’t appear for no reason.

But the gust of wind came and went quickly, disappearing in an instant.

“Did a Spirit Transformation cultivator come down to investigate?” Jia Fugui said in surprise. With their cultivation, combined with the current environment, they could still guess some things.

“It’s impossible for wind to appear here for no reason. It’s just… since the other party came down to investigate, why didn’t they search carefully? Their target should be us remaining cultivators!” Donglin Tingyue was also alarmed and uncertain, and said somewhat uncertainly.

“Could it be that Fellow Daoist Li hasn’t been discovered yet, so he hasn’t been soul-searched? So the situation below, the other party isn’t too clear about it… That’s not right either. In that case, they would also have to investigate carefully. Otherwise, so many cultivators are gone, and the old woman surnamed He has also disappeared. This can’t be explained…” Jia Fugui said, but soon felt that his guess was wrong.

Now, no matter what the situation was, as long as someone came down to investigate, they wouldn’t just take a rough look and leave.

“Fellow Daoist Li has also been out for a long time, and he hasn’t come back. And someone might have come down from above. What’s going on?”

Donglin Tingyue felt that things had now become somewhat unpredictable.

Li Yan said he was going out to investigate, and then there was no news of him. And no one had come down to investigate carefully here. All of this made the two of them unable to understand or make sense of it.

And just as the two were transmitting their voices to each other, a voice suddenly sounded on the deck.

“You two fellow daoists, come out. I’m with Senior Chongyangzi!”

This voice appeared abruptly, which first stunned the two at the stern of the boat, and then they looked out through the restriction.

Then, a shocking scene appeared before them.

They saw that at the bow of the boat, two figures were walking towards the center of the deck.

And they both knew those two people. The one who spoke was Li Yan, and the other was indeed Chongyangzi, whom Li Yan had mentioned.

Obviously, Li Yan didn’t know where Jia Fugui and the others were hiding, and he didn’t want to go look for them either.

So after coming down with Chongyangzi, he walked towards the center of the deck, so that the other party could see the two of them quickly.