Chapter 1416: All Things Cease Like Clouds Adrift

Before the two could ask further questions, Li Yan relayed some of the other analytical conclusions from Pure Yang Hall.

This shocked Shangguan Tianque and his companion even more. Heavenly Mountain Garden and Spirit Subduing Manor had long been secretly working against Pure Yang Hall, but their targets were the subordinate sects like themselves.

“Elder Li, are you saying… that what happened to me and old ghost Donglin, and the ambush at the market last time, was the work of these two sects, and not the Blood Lantern Sect?” Shangguan Tianque, after his shock subsided, thought it over carefully before speaking slowly.

“That should be it. Their goal was to shake the foundations of Pure Yang Hall. It’s just that they didn’t wait any longer and chose to act this time. Otherwise, sects like the Blood Lantern Sect would have definitely been affected by us later on!”

Ren Yanyu, after some thought, also spoke softly from the side. They had already developed a sense of vigilance towards the Blood Lantern Sect in their hearts.

It was just that this move by Heart-Refining Valley had not been allowed to reach its final, effective stage; they had chosen to prioritize snatching the “Great Nothingness Tree” instead.

Although it did not play a critical role, their plans were not wrong. No one could guarantee what would happen in reality.

Therefore, various preparations were certainly necessary. Only at the critical moment would they decide which one to adopt.

It was just that Heart-Refining Valley had not expected the variable of Li Yan to appear on the flying boat. The formidability of the Gui Water Immortal Sect lay in their proficiency at fighting above their realm, their sneak attacks, assassinations, and long-distance escapes, making them impossible to guard against and defying common sense.

Seeing that he had said pretty much everything he needed to, Li Yan immediately stood up and said with a solemn expression, “Fellow Daoists, Pure Yang Hall does not permit this matter to be spread. What I have said is to be known only by the three of us. Otherwise, it will invite great trouble!”

After speaking, Li Yan flew away on his own.

He had been greatly consumed these past few days and needed a good period of quiet cultivation. Moreover, his gains this time were substantial, and he naturally needed to sort through them.

When Shangguan Tianque and his companion heard this, their hearts tightened. They had wanted to ask Li Yan which cultivators had survived.

But seeing that Li Yan had flown away immediately after speaking, giving them no chance to ask, they refrained.

After exchanging a glance, neither of them called out to Li Yan. They had fought their way up from the bottom and had long since learned to grasp the intentions of the upper sects.

Since Li Yan had mentioned Pure Yang Hall, their thoughts raced, and they immediately understood Pure Yang Hall’s meaning. This was a way of protecting Li Yan and the others.

After sensing that Li Yan’s aura had completely disappeared, Shangguan Tianque and Ren Yanyu continued to gaze at the distant sky.

“Senior Brother, the number of cultivators who survived might not even be as many as Elder Li said!” Ren Yanyu’s gaze was fixed on the sea of clouds in front of her.

She and Shangguan Tianque were both extremely intelligent people. After Li Yan’s account, followed by Pure Yang Hall’s warning, he had immediately left. From this, they had guessed some things.

“Do not mention this matter again, lest it fall into the ears of others! Elder Li is truly our lucky star. This time, we owe him another huge favor. If Junior Sister had gone, the outcome would have been truly hard to predict… Once something happened to you, my state of mind would definitely be unable to break through to Spirit Transformation. And without you, what meaning would eternal life have…”

Shangguan Tianque also withdrew his gaze and looked at Ren Yanyu, a trace of lingering fear in the depths of his eyes.

The two of them had experienced too many life-and-death situations, so they didn’t feel that there was any taboo in talking about life and death.

After hearing this, Ren Yanyu also turned her face to look at Shangguan Tianque. Her three thousand black silks fell, and a myriad of gentle feelings appeared in her beautiful eyes.

She stretched out a pair of lotus-root-like arms and gently wrapped them around Shangguan Tianque’s waist from the side.

“Senior Brother, Elder Li is blessed with good fortune and has returned safely. And we don’t have to worry about the Blood Lantern Sect’s affairs anymore. This time, you should be able to focus on breaking through to the Spirit Transformation realm!” Ren Yanyu’s pleasant voice came softly, with an ethereal quality.

“There’s no hurry for now. Since Elder Li has also returned, I will have to personally go out and take a look soon. If I can find the remnants of those two sects, that would be the best result…”

Shangguan Tianque raised a hand and gently tidied the stray hairs on Ren Yanyu’s forehead, but his tone was filled with a grim intent. …

When Li Yan returned to his Cave Residence, he immediately activated the formation restrictions and set up the “Do Not Open” formation. Only then did he feel at ease. After washing up, he fell into a deep sleep.

He slept for a day and two nights. When he woke up, he was refreshed and full of energy.

So, the first thing he did was to send a wisp of his Divine Sense directly into the “Earthen Patch.” Without a word, he gave the green-robed elder, who was trapped in the far west with his cultivation sealed, another sound beating.

From beginning to end, apart from the green-robed elder’s miserable screams and angry roars, Li Yan did not say a single word. After beating the other party until he was on the verge of death, he left directly.

He only left the green-robed elder lying in the desert, filled with immense resentment. He, a dignified Late-stage Spirit Transformation expert, even in the Immortal Spirit Realm where experts were as common as clouds, had never been so humiliated and aggrieved.

Those experts who were stronger than him disdained to fight with him, and those of the same realm as him had never been able to humiliate him like this.

Moreover, he could already see that this young man was not a true expert. He had only used the power of the laws of this ghostly heaven and earth to make him completely powerless to fight back.

And this heaven and earth, he had already studied it countless times, but he still couldn’t find any clues.

“Who, on earth, are you!!”

Lying on the ground, his face bruised and swollen, the green-robed elder squeezed out a torrent of rage from between his teeth. He had already wanted to commit suicide here, but he had been sealed by the other party last time…

And after Li Yan had finished beating the green-robed elder, he was in an even better mood. He didn’t want to plant a Blood Contract on the green-robed elder just yet. He wanted the other party to develop an endless fear of him.

This demon plant’s cultivation was much higher than Li Yan’s. Once released, Li Yan had no confidence that his Blood Contract could affect the other party.

That was a Late-stage Spirit Transformation. Once he left here and regained the power of the outside world, he might be able to break through the Blood Contract and enslave him instead. That would be a huge joke.

It was better to first leave an endless shadow in his heart!

Then, he once again began the wonderful time of checking his harvest.

In front of the cross-legged Li Yan, a row of storage rings was lined up. Among them were the rings of several Spirit Transformation cultivators. When he saw three of the rings, a sense of apology arose in Li Yan’s heart.

Those were Chongyangzi’s storage space magical treasures, but he had gotten them from the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator.

Li Yan had obtained eight rings from the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator alone. He had guessed at the time that among these storage magical treasures, there should be those of Chongyangzi, Chen Xingshan, and the others.

So, while Chongyangzi was unconscious, he had taken advantage of the power of the “Earthen Patch” to break the Divine Sense Imprints on these rings one by one in advance.

The Yuan-surnamed female cultivator, Chen Xingshan, and the others were already dead. Even with Li Yan’s Divine Sense strength, it was not very difficult to do this.

But Chongyangzi was still alive. If he waited until he woke up before trying to erase the Divine Sense Imprint he had left on them, then, knowing that the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator was already dead, Chongyangzi would almost immediately think that Li Yan was up to something.

Therefore, Li Yan had to erase the Divine Sense Imprint on them before rescuing Chongyangzi.

This had caused the unconscious Chongyangzi to spit out several mouthfuls of blood. When he later woke up, he still thought that he had been injured in the original battle.

Now, seeing the few rings on the ground again, Li Yan himself felt embarrassed. But at that time, he did not know Chongyangzi’s character. That kind of action was the most normal thing to do.

He couldn’t possibly, after recognizing that Chongyangzi was such a person who was dedicated to the Dao, take out these things and give them to the other party.

Now he could only apologize to Chongyangzi. If in the future, Chongyangzi had anything he could help with, Li Yan felt that he would definitely not refuse.

After some sorting, plus the storage magical treasures of those Nascent Soul cultivators, Li Yan’s wealth had suddenly increased by nearly a hundred times, and the biggest source here was the several Spirit Transformation cultivators.

The Spirit Stones inside, if all were exchanged for high-grade Spirit Stones, Li Yan roughly estimated that there were at least several million.

This was several million high-grade Spirit Stones. If exchanged for low-grade Spirit Stones, these storage space rings would be filled to the brim, with no gaps left.

Because here, Li Yan had obtained twenty-seven supreme-grade Spirit Stones.

And this was under the condition that the other party could not have carried all their wealth with them, which was enough to show the wealth of a Spirit Transformation cultivator in the Immortal Spirit Realm.

And the remaining pills and talismans were too numerous to count. And many of them were defensive talismans. Li Yan could only classify them first and wait to check their usage one by one.

The remaining various raw materials, as well as various types of magical treasures, were also numerous, dazzling Li Yan.

And the best magical treasure Li Yan saw was a jade ruler taken out from Chongyangzi’s storage ring. As soon as he held it, he knew it was an extraordinary magical treasure.

This jade ruler exuded waves of pure yang power. It was a supreme yang and fire attribute treasure.

Li Yan had only activated this item in the “Earthen Patch” for a moment, and the fire spiritual energy in the heaven and earth had surged over like a crimson dragon sucking water.

Without borrowing the laws of heaven and earth there, with a casual wave of the ruler, he had caused the long river to churn like boiling magma.

That was tempered by Chongyangzi with the fire of pure yang. Even if Li Yan did not re-refine it, Li Yan felt that it had the power to directly kill a Late-stage Nascent Soul.

Once refined and familiar with the use of this magical treasure, Li Yan felt that with a surprise attack on a Mid-stage Spirit Transformation, it was also possible to severely injure the other party.

This was probably the limit of his current strength. If this treasure was in Chongyangzi’s hands, of course it could kill a Late-stage Spirit Transformation, and even compete with a Void Refining cultivator for a while.

There was also a thin-bladed Willow Leaf Flying Saber from the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator. This magical treasure was extremely fast, and when it was deployed, it was silent and traceless. It would reach you almost at the instant you discovered it.

The material used to forge this thin-bladed Willow Leaf Flying Saber, Li Yan could not tell what it was, but from its sharpness, he could tell that the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator had definitely spent a huge price to forge it.

Li Yan picked out five talismans from the pile of talismans and deployed them in an overlapping manner. Each of these could withstand a full-strength attack from a Late-stage Nascent Soul.

Under Li Yan’s infusion of ninety percent of his Magical Power, this thin-bladed Willow Leaf Flying Saber actually broke through two and a half talismans and got stuck in the defensive restriction of the third talisman.

This kind of power also made Li Yan’s heart fill with wild joy. The magical treasures of Spirit Transformation cultivators were indeed unexpectedly powerful.

This was also under the condition that he had not refined it. Once it was refined, its power would increase again.

Of course, Li Yan’s current Magical Power had reached a level close to that of an Initial-stage Spirit Transformation. This was also a major reason for its power.

The magical treasures in the hands of these Spirit Transformation cultivators would only become more and more powerful as Li Yan’s strength increased.

Among the other magical treasures, there was also a great saber of good grade, but Li Yan did not like this type of magical treasure.

Because the storage spaces of the three Spirit Transformation cultivators had been divided between the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator and the old woman surnamed He, the good great saber magical treasure Li Yan saw belonged to the big man from the Seven Tigers Alliance.

As for Chen Xingshan’s things, they had been taken by the old woman surnamed He. The things of these two, as well as the treasures of many Nascent Soul cultivators, had long since fallen into the “Bone-Melting Wind.”

Among these magical treasures, only the thin-bladed Willow Leaf Flying Saber, Li Yan could confirm was the Yuan-surnamed female cultivator’s natal magical treasure.

Because that magical treasure had flown out of her body when her physical body was destroyed. The other magical treasures could not be known.

Most natal magical treasures were usually kept in the Sea of Consciousness or the Dantian for nourishment, connected to one’s own soul.

Even if Chongyangzi was captured, with his cultivation sealed, he would be unable to use it. Others would also be unable to take it away smoothly before killing him…

After classifying these things, Li Yan thought for a while and then hid all those magical treasures, raw materials, and most of the pills, Spirit Stones, and talismans in the “Earthen Patch.”

He only left some selected pills, Spirit Stones, and talismans in his own storage ring.

In this area, apart from things like Spirit Stones and pills, many things could not see the light of day.

Once used, they might be noticed by others, especially magical treasures, as well as some specially made talismans and pills. Once they appeared, they might be recognized by some people.

So, Li Yan would not use any of the magical treasures at present, and he would only pick out the pills and talismans that he recognized first.

Especially that jade ruler, as long as Li Yan was in this area for a day, he would not use it.

Once Chongyangzi discovered any clues, the first one he would suspect would be Li Yan. Then all the good relations he had established with him before would disappear in an instant, and he would be regarded as an enemy by the other party and directly captured.

And those things from Heavenly Mountain Garden and Spirit Subduing Manor, although they had already rebelled and it seemed that they could be used at will, the other party did not know the role Li Yan had played in it. So until now, they only thought that Chongyangzi was the key and would not pay attention to him.

But once it was discovered that someone had taken out a lot of things from the cultivators of the two sects, he would definitely become the target of the other party’s attention, and they would follow the clues to find him.

Li Yan planned to sell most of the things in other areas after leaving here later, and just leave a few good things.

After such a check, Li Yan could only put these things away first and began to plan for the future.

He had been running around for a while and had only left behind ordinary meditation and cultivation.

Now that he couldn’t find the “Gui Qu Lai Xi” shop, he would definitely have to leave here in the future and go to a farther place to find a sect, which required stronger cultivation.

Next, he also had to seize the time to cultivate. As for the use of the “Great Nothingness Fruit,” Li Yan still had not sensed the possibility of breaking through to Spirit Transformation, so he would not take it.

He had two “Great Nothingness Fruits,” but Li Yan was thinking that even if he broke through in the future, it would be best if he could use none of them.

There were many things Li Yan needed to cultivate. The Qiongqi Purgatory Art needed to be further improved to see if the physical body could take the lead and break through to the seventh layer sooner.

The various cultivation arts of the Gui Water Immortal Sect’s Nascent Soul realm also needed to be constantly improved. For a cultivation art like the Five Elements Disarray Mantle, he could only be considered to have a minor accomplishment at most, and all of them needed to be further improved.

So, Li Yan once again began a life of ascetic and quiet cultivation, tempering and cultivating the sixth layer of the Qiongqi Purgatory Art day by day. Whenever his Magical Power was exhausted, he would circulate the True Scripture of Gui Water to breathe and circulate the heavenly cycle.

Occasionally, he would concentrate and spend a few days cultivating various arts and divine abilities, constantly studying and grinding them bit by bit…

While Li Yan was focused on his ascetic cultivation, the outside world was already in a state of turmoil, with one slaughter after another.

Even between Pure Yang Hall and Heart-Refining Valley, cultivators above the Nascent Soul had begun to fight. Later, there were even casualties among the Void Refining cultivators.

Moreover, there was also the intervention of a first-rate sect, which prevented a large-scale battle from breaking out, but the undercurrent was surging…

Shangguan Tianque and the others also fought several battles with some people of unknown origin. Fortunately, this was their home ground, and the surrounding sects had long been ordered not to flee from battle. Often, when the enemy saw that the situation was not good, they would immediately flee.

Yu Banjiang was also besieged by two Nascent Soul cultivators in a battle and was quickly seriously injured. Fortunately, Ren Yanyu and the others arrived in time and killed the enemy.

In the end, with a pile of pills, Yu Banjiang also survived.

After that battle with a true Nascent Soul in a life-and-death struggle, Yu Banjiang actually gained new insights. His strength actually began to increase day by day while he was recuperating.

Although there were constant battles outside, Shangguan Tianque had never disturbed Li Yan again. The other party had already done enough for the Broken Army Sect.

What’s more, as long as there were no large-scale battles, the Broken Army Sect could still cope!

Seven years later, this storm also gradually subsided. Some sects disappeared because of it, while others rose to fame…

After this turmoil subsided, Shangguan Tianque also entered a closed-door seclusion to accumulate strength.

In the eighth year of Li Yan’s seclusion, the Broken Army Sect welcomed a world-destroying heavenly tribulation. The entire sect was on high alert, and the hearts of every disciple were filled with strong anticipation.

Because, Shangguan Tianque had once again welcomed the Spirit Transformation heavenly tribulation…

Four days later, the injured Shangguan Tianque successfully transformed into a spirit!

Afterwards, sects like the Donglin Family all sent heavy congratulatory gifts. Even the Blood Lantern Sect sent people to congratulate them.

At the same time, another territory equivalent to another Dragon-Catching Sect was also assigned to the Broken Army Sect as a congratulatory gift.

And Li Yan, who was in seclusion, knew nothing about all this, and Shangguan Tianque did not let others disturb him. Not long after, Ren Yanyu also entered seclusion…

In the eleventh year of Li Yan’s seclusion, on this day, two streaks of rosy light broke through the sky from the distant horizon. In a flash, they arrived at the mountain gate of the Broken Army Sect. After a circle, they landed.

When the rosy light dissipated, the figures of a man and a woman were revealed. The man was fat, with the appearance of a merchant. The woman was tall and slender, wearing a half-moon silver mask.

And behind the woman, there was actually a big black dog, but there was no spiritual power fluctuation on its body, as if it was an extremely ordinary mongrel dog.

Just as they were flying through the air, four cultivators at the mountain gate had already looked up at the sky.

They were all Golden Core cultivators. The other party had not forced their way into the mountain gate, so they would not scold them for no reason, but quietly waited for the other party to land.

After the two people and one dog revealed their figures, the four of them just swept their Divine Sense over, and their faces immediately became solemn.

They couldn’t tell if the black mongrel dog was a demonic beast, but the man and woman in front were actually Nascent Soul cultivators.