Chapter 1412: A Thousand-Li Journey Without a Trace
A glint flashed in the depths of Li Yan’s eyes. He could see that Donglin Tingyue and the other knew what “Bright Refining Mind-Inquiry” was, but it was not a good time for him to ask.
However, from the words themselves, Li Yan could also guess that it should be an art similar to a mind-confusing technique, one that would make a cultivator subconsciously speak the truth from their heart.
It was a bit like soul-searching, but the method seemed gentler. This could be guessed from the expressions on Donglin Tingyue and the other’s faces; at least there would be no pain.
However, Li Yan was a little apprehensive. Although he had nothing to do with the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator and the others, he had many secrets of his own, and he had also tampered with Chongyangzi’s memory. Could he resist this so-called “Bright Refining Mind-Inquiry”?
Just as Li Yan was thinking about how to deal with it, Chongyangzi looked at him again.
“If what the two of them say at that time is not too different from the ‘Bright Refining Mind-Inquiry,’ then you won’t need to do it. I will explain this point to the Supreme Elder.”
When the three of them heard this, they were first stunned, and then Li Yan himself understood.
This was Chongyangzi expressing his gratitude to him again. For him to do this, he would definitely have to use himself as a guarantee. This was a very big favor.
However, Li Yan had helped him kill the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator. Not only had the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator plotted against Chongyangzi, but she had also soul-searched him. This was simply a great humiliation.
For a cultivator’s memory to be probed by others was of course intolerable. If one was weak, one could only let it go. But Chongyangzi’s strength was even stronger than the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator’s.
But Chongyangzi would never have thought that Li Yan, who was on the first floor at the time, also knew about him being soul-searched.
Moreover, Li Yan had personally soul-searched him more than once!
Now, on the surface, Li Yan had helped him kill the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator. Although Chongyangzi still felt unwilling that he had not been able to personally kill that bitch, Li Yan had also avenged him.
Therefore, he still planned to help Li Yan if he could.
“Thank you, Senior!”
With the other party saying this, Li Yan also immediately expressed his thanks. But in his heart, he was still thinking about how to deal with the “Bright Refining Mind-Inquiry.”
After all, he didn’t know Chongyangzi’s status in Pure Yang Hall. And in this sect, there were still Void Refining Realm cultivators. Li Yan was not sure if Chongyangzi’s words would be effective.
With his character, for the promise of someone he was not familiar with, he would definitely just listen. He still had to make all the preparations himself.
And when Jia Fugui and Donglin Tingyue on the side heard this, the two of them looked at each other, and both of them showed helplessness in their eyes. But they had no jealousy towards Li Yan in their hearts.
Not only was the other party’s combat power formidable, but he had also saved the two of them. And the most important thing was probably that this person had saved Chongyangzi.
Chongyangzi would not tell them this kind of thing, and they could not ask Li Yan through voice transmission, so they could only guess in their hearts.
However, they had clearly seen the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator from Heavenly Mountain Garden come down before, and then quickly return.
Now that she was gone, although Chongyangzi didn’t say it, there were only two possibilities. One was that Li Yan might have sneak-attacked the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator.
With the example of the sneak attack on the old woman surnamed He before, the two of them did not doubt Li Yan’s ability. Although the probability was not high, it was still possible for Li Yan to do it.
The second possibility was that Li Yan had helped Chongyangzi kill the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator. This was the most likely possibility.
From the fact that the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator could enter the first floor alone, at that time, she should have trapped Chongyangzi. With Li Yan’s help, she was able to escape.
No matter which of these two possibilities it was, there would be a shadow of Li Yan in it.
If Li Yan had thus obtained the favor of a Spirit Transformation cultivator from Pure Yang Hall, this made the two of them envious.
This was a great backer. Even if a sect like the Blood Lantern Sect also had a Spirit Transformation cultivator, their status could not be compared to Chongyangzi’s.
“Senior, when are we returning?”
A glint of light quietly slipped through the depths of Li Yan’s eyes.
He had released Chongyangzi because he did not want to be hunted by many sects at the moment. Now that this matter was finally resolved, he just didn’t know where they would go next.
When Chongyangzi heard Li Yan’s question, he looked up at the desert outside the light shield.
“We are almost at the ‘Great Nothingness Tree’ area now. We will go there first to take a look. If there are no other unexpected situations there, we will return after that.”
To the few juniors, Chongyangzi rarely spoke so much. Especially since it was Li Yan who had asked, he still gave a relatively certain answer.
In fact, there were some things he had not said. His storage ring was lost, including the ring that controlled this flying boat.
His Divine Sense had carefully scanned Li Yan’s body just now, and he had also scanned the entire flying boat, but he had not sensed any trace of his Divine Sense Imprint.
Chongyangzi was of course extremely confident in his Divine Sense scan.
Moreover, he had only heard of magical treasures that could store other storage spaces, but a magical treasure of that level, even a Body Integration cultivator might not have.
Li Yan didn’t have it on him, so it was really gone.
This made him extremely depressed. Although his storage ring did not contain all his possessions, it had at least about forty percent. This was forty percent of a Spirit Transformation cultivator’s wealth. This made his heart bleed.
But thinking about it, those things had probably gone into the desert with the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator. He also didn’t dare to touch the “Bone-Melting Wind” outside, so he could only consider himself unlucky.
He couldn’t possibly blame Li Yan for not leaving behind the other party’s storage space magical treasure when he was sneak-attacking someone. That would be too shameless.
Moreover, he couldn’t talk about this matter anymore. That would be letting more people know that he had been captured.
Without the ring that controlled the flying boat, he could no longer fully activate the flying boat’s speed. But fortunately, he was very familiar with this magical treasure.
The sect had also left other backup measures in case there was a problem with the control of the magical treasure. He still had a set of manuals he could use to control it.
It was just that it was quite troublesome to use, and the speed could not be fully utilized.
Chongyangzi simply answered Li Yan’s question, and then he was thinking about those lost storage magical treasures. And when Li Yan and the other two heard Chongyangzi’s words, they each had different reactions.
Jia Fugui thought to himself, ‘Why are we still going to the ‘Great Nothingness Tree’ area? Such a shocking change has occurred on the flying boat this time. Maybe there will be other accidents there? Then… then…’
Donglin Tingyue thought to herself, ‘Senior Chongyangzi is so concerned about the ‘Great Nothingness Tree.’ Could it be that those two sects were trying to seize this precious tree? But the stakes of this kind of action are too high. Aren’t they afraid that ‘Pure Yang Hall’ will hunt them down afterwards? Perhaps their betrayal was instigated by other great sects…’
Which one of them here was not extremely intelligent?
Even if Chongyangzi had not explained why Spirit Subduing Manor and Heavenly Mountain Garden had rebelled, the two of them had already guessed many things.
As for Li Yan, who had already learned the reason through soul-searching, after hearing Chongyangzi’s decision, he also thought for a moment and sighed helplessly in his heart.
‘With Chongyangzi by my side, there should be no chance to fish in troubled waters…’
Next, Li Yan and the other two still went down to the first floor of the flying boat, and the three of them each found a room and entered.
It was just that this time, Donglin Tingyue and Jia Fugui, without prior consultation, both chose to live in the rooms to the left and right of the room Li Yan had chosen, living next to each other.
Although the danger here had passed, the life-and-death struggle before had made them want to be close to Li Yan from the bottom of their hearts. Li Yan didn’t care about this.
And the time they spent in meditation was not very long. Just half a day later, the three of them received a voice transmission from Chongyangzi. The “Great Nothingness Tree” area had been reached.
Li Yan and the others stood on the deck. At this time, they could already see everything outside the flying boat’s shield. Outside was still a desert, but there was no longer any wind and sand.
The surrounding area was bare, an endless desert stretching as far as the eye could see. This was already the “Great Nothingness Tree” area.
Li Yan had also inquired about this place. Although the outside of the boat was still a desert, they had actually arrived at their destination.
Normally, when they arrived at the edge of the desert here, everyone should have gotten off the flying boat.
Then, the scramble would start from here. They, the Spirit Transformation and Nascent Soul cultivators, would have to rely on their own abilities and fight their way in.
This journey would take them through a large desert, two canyons, and finally a forest area.
They, these cultivators, would constantly fight each other along the way. The first one to reach the core area of the “Great Nothingness Tree” would be the first to get their hands on the four “Great Nothingness Fruits.”
It was said that in the past, cultivators had to go through about fifteen to twenty days of chasing and killing each other before they could reach the core area of the “Great Nothingness Tree.”
Jia Fugui had participated once before. He said that each time, at least ten-odd Nascent Soul cultivators would perish, and there would even be cases of Spirit Transformation cultivators dying, but that was extremely rare.
If the Spirit Transformation cultivator of a certain team was seriously injured, that team would basically take the initiative to withdraw and retreat.
Since you were no longer competing for the “Great Nothingness Fruit,” could the other teams possibly turn back and chase after you?
But this time, after arriving at the edge of the desert, although the three of them were also called out by Chongyangzi, they did not stop at all and flew directly over with the flying boat.
“In about two more hours, we can fly directly to the core area of the ‘Great Nothingness Tree.’ This is the fastest entry speed. You can take this opportunity to take a good look at the terrain here. Maybe you will have a chance to use it in the future!” Chongyangzi said.
Li Yan and the other three did not speak. Chongyangzi also stared blankly at the surroundings for a moment. He had let the three of them out as a kind of reward.
Even for those who had been here before, in order to avoid being chased by others or being in a hurry to move forward, they could only remember the route along the way.
Sects like the Blood Lantern Sect, these third-rate sects, actually had their own collected and drawn maps, but this was usually a secret of the sect and would not be easily passed on.
Everyone wanted to be fully prepared for the next scramble for the “Great Nothingness Fruit.”
Participants in the scramble for the “Great Nothingness Fruit” could also get a map issued by a third-rate sect before each start.
But even so, no matter how detailed the map was, it couldn’t be detailed to the point of a rock on a certain mountain or a pit.
But if a cultivator had seen it in person, even if they couldn’t see the whole area, with their Divine Sense spread out, they could still remember a lot of the terrain.
Then in the future, if they came to participate in the scramble for the “Great Nothingness Fruit” again, perhaps an inconspicuous pit in the desert, a few large rocks in a canyon, a few sand pits… If used properly, they might be able to save their lives.
In front of Chongyangzi’s eyes, many past scenes seemed to flash by.
At that time, he would sit cross-legged on the flying boat, watching the various teams use their divine abilities, fighting until the sky and earth turned dark, or in the silence, a shrill scream would suddenly be heard…
But this time, he had brought three Nascent Soul cultivators and flew directly to the destination. This was something that no one could have imagined before.