Chapter 1472: The Turbulent Wind Rises (Part Three)
Every time Li Yan received those benefits, after leaving the sect or cultivation family, he would take out most of the magical treasures and medicinal pills and directly distribute them to the Golden Core cultivators following him.
This made the fifty Golden Core cultivators beam with joy and delight. They had never expected that this seemingly cold and aloof captain would be so generous. Thus, these people quickly came to accept Li Yan. When Li Yan gave orders again, they would carry them out without hesitation at the first moment.
And the atmosphere within the entire team gradually warmed up. Although everyone still did not speak loudly during their advance, the atmosphere was clearly becoming more harmonious. Occasionally, these people would whisper and joke with each other. When they looked at the silent and taciturn black-robed youth, their eyes were filled with respect.
Li Yan had stayed in many sects and had also experienced great battles with those low-level cultivators and mortal warriors in the Tianli Clan. He certainly knew what low-level cultivators needed. He had even robbed a Spirit Transformation cultivator. The things these small and medium-sized forces offered were not much to his liking.
For the past seven days, Mu Guyue had barely said a word. She found that the current situation was completely different from what Li Yan had guessed. There were no battles at all. Instead, as they traveled, one sect and cultivation family after another greeted them with smiles. She had even personally witnessed Li Yan accepting many benefits from them.
‘Did he guess wrong, or did he deliberately let me out…’
Mu Guyue thought to herself, unsure, and began to speculate about Li Yan’s true intentions.
“Ahead is a cultivation family called ‘Yellow Luvyuan Manor.’ We are now about one hundred and twenty thousand miles from the Soul Suppression Palace. If this continues, the battle line between the two sides will only get longer and longer. From my observation, under the current circumstances, if you want to escape from the Soul Suppression Palace, there are still many loopholes in several directions. However, once you leave, you will have to hide and flee!”
Li Yan withdrew his gaze from the surroundings and suddenly turned his head to speak in a low voice to Mu Guyue beside him.
He had promised Mu Guyue that he would let her leave whenever there was an opportunity, so he would not go back on his word. There was indeed an opportunity now, but the choice of how to act was up to her to decide.
After hearing this, Mu Guyue nodded. For the past many days, she had also been constantly observing. When it came to the deployment of troops in such a large-scale battle, she actually knew more than Li Yan. She had grown up in the army since she was a child.
“Can… can you find a chance to rescue Ting Lan from Grandmaster Lan’s hands as well?”
This was the first time she had spoken in so many days, but the content of her words made Li Yan pause.
“Ting Lan?”
“Yes!”
Li Yan once again recalled that Mu Guyue had mentioned to him before that a Soul Slave named Ting Lan was also in Grandmaster Lan’s hands, but he had no other conditions to ask of Grandmaster Lan. This was the second time Mu Guyue had brought this matter up to him.
“Is she also of the Demonic Clan?”
“No, just a Daoist friend I met in the Immortal Spirit Realm!”
Mu Guyue’s answer puzzled Li Yan. He had previously guessed that the cultivator named Ting Lan was probably not of the Demonic Clan. But it was only because of Mu Guyue’s attitude that he wanted to confirm it again. In his heart, the people of the Demonic Clan were all very cold-blooded. They had no feelings for other races and didn’t even seem to care much about their own lives. He had not expected Mu Guyue to have such a side to her, speaking up for others time and again. He thought for a moment before speaking again.
“I have considered this matter before. There is no suitable opportunity, and it’s not good to ask for her. The key is the difference in status between me and Grandmaster Lan. Let me think of a way and see if there is any chance after I go back!”
Li Yan knew that Ting Lan had also saved Mu Guyue. That Mu Guyue could repay kindness and be so sentimental still surprised him. Now, his relationship with Mu Guyue was unclear and indescribable, and Li Yan himself didn’t know how to handle it. Since she had brought it up again, after some consideration, Li Yan decided that if there was an opportunity, he could still give it a try.
After that, the two of them fell silent.
Li Yan knew Mu Guyue’s attitude. It was likely that even if she were to leave, she would want to leave with that person named Ting Lan. And Mu Guyue once again fell into a long silence!
A quarter of an hour later, a manor hidden in a dense forest appeared in their line of sight. Through the gaps in the leaves, they could see courtyard walls and the eaves of houses in many places.
Li Yan led the group and landed directly on the open ground in front of the manor. The vermilion main gate of the manor was tightly shut, surrounded by high courtyard walls. Above the vermilion gate were four large green characters.
“Yellow Luvyuan Manor”!
The moment Li Yan and the others landed, without any need for Li Yan’s command, the dozens of Golden Core cultivators all walked to the front of Li Yan and the other. Then, a cultivator strode forward and shouted at the main gate.
“Soul Suppression Palace inspection, open the gate!”
At this time, they could all sense the fluctuations of formation restrictions on the main gate and the surrounding courtyard walls. It was clear that this place had been sealed by a formation.
After the cultivator’s shout, the vermilion gate did not open, and there was no sound from inside.
“Soul Suppression Palace inspection, you are ordered to come out and respond within ten breaths!”
The Golden Core cultivator frowned, but this was not the first time they had encountered such a situation. The attacking teams composed of the Aegis Guard and Spirit Transformation and Nascent Soul cultivators in front were moving too fast, and some news could not be transmitted back in time. This made it so that those in the rear did not know if there were still people in those sects or cultivation families.
Some of the deserted sects they had encountered before, even if they had taken everything of value with them when they left, would still protect their sects with formations, just like the one before them. The purpose was so that if there was a chance to return in the future, they could reclaim their complete foundation.
Faced with this situation, Li Yan and the others’ usual practice was to forcibly break the formation and then enter to inspect only after their request was fruitless. After coming out, they would then use the formation given by the Star Subduing Hall to seal it.
Ten breaths later, without needing Li Yan’s command, the fifty cultivators immediately stepped forward and began to forcibly break the formation restrictions. The sect-protecting formations of small and medium-sized forces could at most withstand a few full-powered attacks from Nascent Soul level cultivators. Under the strong attack of so many Golden Core cultivators, they usually couldn’t last for too long.
Moreover, these cultivators had followed along for a reason; among them were cultivators skilled in formations. Therefore, the positions they attacked were often the energy accumulation nodes of the formation restrictions, as well as the possible locations of the formation’s eye. If that didn’t work, then Li Yan or Mu Guyue would have to take action.
In an instant, the ground here was shaking, and multicolored lights shot into the sky. A series of deafening explosions resounded through the heavens and the earth.
In just the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, amidst a continuous series of explosions, another huge roar came from within.
“Boom!”
A light shot straight into the sky!
Instantly, the protective formation of the “Yellow Luvyuan Manor” erupted in its most brilliant light before turning into specks of starlight and merging into the void.
The vermilion main gate was quickly opened by the cultivators. They each summoned various defenses and, with great caution, entered the main gate in groups of a few.
Soon, the voices of the investigating cultivators came from inside.
“Senior Li, there’s no one in the manor!”
Li Yan, who had been standing in the back with his hands behind his back, only then began to walk slowly towards the main gate after hearing the report. When he entered the gate, he saw a huge front hall courtyard. Dozens of miles away in the rear were many houses stretching out.
Upon entering the courtyard, five towering trees were particularly eye-catching. Each one was as thick as three or four adults holding hands, with a huge canopy that covered the sky. The front hall courtyard was covered for a range of several hundred feet. It was cool and shady, making one feel refreshed. The entire courtyard also had many rockeries, ponds, and some fragrant spiritual plants and flowers, making it very elegant and fresh.
Li Yan glanced at the fragrant flowers and plants. They were just ordinary ornamental spiritual plants, not any kind of poisonous substance. At this moment, the Golden Core cultivators, in groups of five, had scattered throughout the front courtyard.
“One group stay here, the rest of you quickly search the entire manor!”
Li Yan spoke faintly. Even if it was an empty sect, he was always very careful and would not let his guard down. He would always leave a group of cultivators at the entrance to act as a warning.
Upon hearing his words, except for one group that stayed to guard the inner side of the vermilion gate, the rest immediately followed the order and flew quickly towards the rear.
Li Yan scanned the surroundings and then walked towards the front right side. There was a room there, which should be the gatehouse of this manor. He also had to take a rough look to see if he could find any clues to determine how long the other party had been gone.
Mu Guyue followed behind him. The two of them were not slow and soon arrived outside the row of houses. This place was about a hundred feet from the main gate. This house was built against the wall. When Li Yan stood in front of the house door, he sensed it for a moment and then pushed the door open and entered.
The furnishings inside were very simple, with only a table and a few chairs. The rest were just tea sets and the like. And just as Li Yan was observing, he suddenly turned his head, only to see that Mu Guyue had not, as usual, followed him to investigate the house. Instead, she was standing outside the door, her body turned to the side, staring at the courtyard. Seeing her like this, Li Yan was taken aback and quickly asked.
“What’s wrong?”
At this time, Mu Guyue was staring at the five giant trees in front of the courtyard, her phoenix eyes constantly sweeping over the five trees. Hearing Li Yan’s question, she did not turn back. Just as Li Yan’s voice fell, her pretty face suddenly changed, and her voice became urgent.
“Five-Ghost Revolving Locust!”
Li Yan was initially confused, but when he heard Mu Guyue’s words, a roar instantly went off in his mind. Without any need for further explanation from Mu Guyue, he instantly remembered the five large trees inside the main gate. Mu Guyue was far more skilled in the Dao of formations than he was. Li Yan instantly understood what Mu Guyue meant by “Five-Ghost Revolving Locust”!
His figure flashed out like lightning, and at the same time, a thunderous shout was already sent out.
“Everyone, retreat!”
This voice was like a thunderclap in a clear sky, echoing far and wide.
At this moment, Li Yan had already shot out of the house, and just as his figure flashed, Mu Guyue, at almost the same time, had already rushed towards one of the large trees in the courtyard.
But almost at the same moment Li Yan spoke from inside the house, five huge ghostly faces suddenly appeared on the five large trees. The moment the five ghostly faces appeared, each one turned its head, and their pair of ghastly green eyes looked towards the large tree to their right. In an instant, two oily green lights shot out from their eyes, and in a flash, they shot into the left ear of the ghostly face on the large tree to their right.
Mu Guyue had also spoken the words “Five-Ghost Revolving Locust” the moment she saw the five ghostly faces. At that moment, Mu Guyue finally understood why she had felt a faint sense of unease when she entered the manor and looked at the five large trees. It was just that the five large trees of the “Five-Ghost Revolving Locust” did not need to be arranged in a certain pattern. Therefore, it was impossible for all cultivators to think of this upon seeing all the large trees. This made Mu Guyue unable to recall it for a moment!
Just as Li Yan and Mu Guyue had reacted, the green light shot out from the ghostly faces on the five large trees had already formed an irregular closed loop among themselves. And the moment the green light formed a closed loop, a strong spatial fluctuation immediately appeared in the middle of the five giant trees. Then, amidst the fluctuations, figures flew out one after another.
These figures, under the reflection of the green light shot out by the five ghosts, were like bats flying out of a green, oily cave.