Chapter 1489: Deliberation (Part One)

‘However, to get the real secrets, I’ll still need some tricks!’

Li Yan knew that just knowing Tang Feng was not enough.

Although he had saved him this time, the more of a core disciple someone was, the more loyal they were to their sect. As soon as he showed any sign of wanting to pry into secrets, the other party would become vigilant. This would have been fine in the past.

Before, Tang Feng himself was hiding his identity. Of course, when he saw him asking about these things, he could just casually say a few words. The curiosity and questions Li Yan showed were very normal for an ordinary cultivator. But now that Tang Feng had revealed his identity, if Li Yan still asked him about some secrets, the meaning would be different. If he wasn’t careful, he would arouse the other party’s suspicion, and they would speculate that Li Yan had ulterior motives.

So, from a certain perspective, the relationship between the two of them was actually not as good as before. But if Li Yan could really get him to say something, it would definitely not be the superficial information from Tang Feng’s mouth before, but what Li Yan needed.

After Tang Feng briefly answered and explained the reason for hiding his identity before, he immediately changed the subject.

“By the way, Brother Li, how did you all end up here? Can you tell me the details?”

Tang Feng, because of the pursuing enemy, had not had much of a chance to communicate with Li Yan before. When Tang Feng saw that Li Yan was leading so few Golden Core cultivators, he felt it was a bit strange, not understanding what they were doing out here with such strength.

Under normal circumstances, these Golden Core cultivators would form a large army, or at least a team of more than a hundred people, to be effective. In the process of his escape, after meeting that Aegis Guard unit, he had obtained some news about the sect from them and also learned about the sudden rebellion of the nine major forces. At that time, he had already guessed that this rebellion might be related to his own exposure this time.

They had previously only found out that seven forces had problems. This time, while verifying another suspected sect, a mistake had occurred. In the information Tang Feng had obtained from the Aegis Guard, the Aegis Guard commander had only told him the important things and had not mentioned the subsequent clean-up operations. In his eyes, these were all just trivial matters. A small team composed of some Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators was just doing some trivial things.

After hearing this, Li Yan did not hesitate and immediately explained the mission of his group, and also mentioned how they had almost been ambushed and annihilated at the Yellow Luvyuan Manor. However, here, Li Yan did not mention meeting Jin Xueyu’s group of Aegis Guard. He felt there was no need. Logically, Tang Feng should even thank Jin Xueyu for his own survival.

Only then did Tang Feng understand the reason. And Li Yan’s original group had more people, but many had been killed in the ambush.

“The ‘Five-Ghost Revolving Locust’ teleportation formation that doesn’t use Spirit Stones to activate is indeed insidious. I never thought they would have the construction method for this kind of formation. I have only seen records of this kind of formation in ancient texts. Even Grandmaster Lan cannot construct it. I don’t know where they got this kind of formation. No wonder there was a sudden change in the rear, which had been combed through twice. This kind of formation is very well-hidden, and it’s very difficult for people to detect any problems. When I was in the front, when I encountered that Aegis Guard unit, I was also suddenly caught in a pincer attack from the rear. It was with great difficulty that I managed to break out!”

Tang Feng nodded. This time, he finally understood how the enemy that had caught the Aegis Guard in a pincer attack had appeared behind them. When he had just met that Aegis Guard, the commander there was still very pleased with himself, saying that their battle was progressing in a straight line, and they were beating the nine major forces back step by step. It turned out that all of this was just the nine major forces deliberately showing weakness to the enemy, deliberately stretching the Soul Suppression Palace’s battle line infinitely long.

Not only was the distance from front to back stretched, but the distance from east to west was also stretched incredibly wide. This made the forces of the Aegis Guard and the three halls instantly spread out like stars. Then, the nine major forces suddenly launched a pincer attack from front and back, defeating them one by one. This had really made the Soul Suppression Palace suffer a great loss.

This was not because the Soul Suppression Palace was incompetent, but because they were nine forces. The number of people they had together was much greater than the Soul Suppression Palace, and the other party’s high-end combat power also had the upper hand.

Li Yan also added, “It is for this reason that I decided that we could no longer continue to purge forward, but must rush back to report the situation to the sect. We need to gather our forces and redeploy. Otherwise, we would become a small, isolated army. With our meager strength, we would be eaten until not even our bones were left. It has been several days, and we have only just reached the place where we were before. That’s when we met Brother Tang!”

Li Yan explained his previous plan.

“Brother Li did the right thing. It’s not that I look down on you, but even if you had several times more men, as long as you didn’t have several Spirit Transformation cultivators leading the team to support you, being caught in the middle, you would also be completely annihilated. As for this matter, you don’t need to report it when you go back. I will handle the subsequent matters of this small team. And since the other party’s offensive has already begun, it can no longer be hidden. There must be other clean-up teams or Aegis Guard who have already retreated. Perhaps they have even broken through the encirclement and returned to the sect! So, the sect may already know about the situation here.”

Tang Feng said.

Upon hearing this, Li Yan also immediately agreed with Tang Feng’s words. So many teams had been sent out. He, Li Yan, was not the only smart one. What he could think of, others could also think of.

Sure enough, just after they had walked for another half a day, they encountered a large number of cultivators from the Soul Suppression Palace. These people were all led by three to five Spirit Transformation cultivators. These cultivators were precisely the ones the sect had sent out after receiving the news. They had immediately redeployed, sending out troops to start cleaning from the inside out, and at the same time, to meet the Soul Suppression Palace cultivators who were caught in the middle.

When these people met Li Yan and the others, Tang Feng went straight up to them. After taking out a purple token, he whispered a few words to a Spirit Transformation cultivator with a surprised look on his face. Afterwards, that Spirit Transformation cultivator did not inspect any of Li Yan’s group. With a respectful face, he let Li Yan and his group pass.

Since encountering the large number of cultivators from the Soul Suppression Palace, Li Yan and the others’ journey back had become much smoother. They no longer had to hide and sneak around, but flew straight towards the sect all the way. It took almost no time for them to arrive at the sect gate of the Soul Suppression Palace. Tang Feng did not leave immediately, but went with Li Yan and the others to hand in the mission at the Strange Sparrow Hall.

It was just that this mission was handed in very quickly, and there was no need for Li Yan to explain anything. Tang Feng still took out that purple token and, after briefly speaking with a deacon of the Strange Sparrow Hall who had a shocked look on his face, Li Yan’s team was dismissed. The deacon only recorded some things and did not immediately arrange any follow-up missions for Li Yan and the others.

The twenty-odd Golden Core cultivators who had survived also, after thanking Li Yan and Tang Feng again, all left the deacon hall. They also had to go back and rest, and at the same time, wait for subsequent orders.

After leaving the main hall, only Li Yan, Tang Feng, and Mu Guyue were left. Tang Feng did not look at Mu Guyue behind him. In his eyes, the other party was just a Soul Slave.

“I have important matters to attend to and must return to the rear peak. The courtyard I used to live in in the Strange Sparrow Hall, I won’t be going there in the future. This is my token. If Brother Li has any matters, you can take this token and go to the rear peak to find me. Someone will naturally lead you there. If you can’t find me, you can also find me through Grandmaster Lan and ask her to help pass on a message. In any case, Grandmaster Lan is also very familiar with you. For a period of time in the future, as long as no major crisis occurs in the sect, Brother Li should not have any missions. You can cultivate in peace!”

As Tang Feng spoke, he raised an arm, and with a flash of light in his hand, a small, inch-long dagger appeared in his hand. Then, with the blade pointing down and the hilt forward, he handed it to Li Yan.

Upon seeing this, a smile appeared on Li Yan’s face, and he accepted it without any ceremony.

“This token of yours is really special. This is the first time I’ve seen such a token, hehehe…”

He was not surprised that Tang Feng had said he would no longer be living in the previous courtyard. This person had only mixed into the Strange Sparrow Hall for a mission. Now that his identity had been exposed, he would definitely not live there anymore. And Tang Feng had said that if he had something, he could also find him through Grandmaster Lan. It seemed that Tang Feng was also very clear about his own matters with Grandmaster Lan. Therefore, he had said so. Otherwise, if he had asked him to find other elders to help him find someone, they might not even bother with him.

Upon hearing Li Yan’s words, Tang Feng also had a brilliant smile on his face.

“This is a small magical treasure I refined myself. I rarely give it to people. I don’t have any other special things on me. I can’t just give you my own token, can I? Hahaha…”

Amidst his great laughter, Tang Feng cupped his hands in a salute, his figure had already risen into the air. Then, with a turn, he flew rapidly towards the north.

Li Yan watched Tang Feng leave, and only then did he turn his head to look at Mu Guyue, who had been following silently behind him all the way.

“Let’s go back too. After we go back this time, you don’t have to go back to the spirit-storing space. Just find a room in the courtyard and cultivate on your own!”

Mu Guyue was silent at first. She glanced at Li Yan and saw that he didn’t seem to be faking it, so she nodded. She had originally thought that she, like that “Netherworld Demon Vine,” would be semi-imprisoned again, after all, they were back at the sect. Although she would just be cultivating, and it was the same wherever she cultivated.

But Li Yan’s arrangement actually made a weight lift from Mu Guyue’s heart for no reason. Something quietly released itself from her heart… At this moment, she confirmed one thing: Li Yan had let down his guard against her.

This made her feel that the reason she had found for herself before might not be entirely correct. At that time, she had thought that the human race was the human race, and the Demonic Clan was the Demonic Clan. The reason Li Yan had saved her was only because of that ill-fated encounter. It could only show that this person still retained a trace of humanity and was not completely cold-blooded to the extreme. And she herself had only survived by relying on that little bit of humanity that the other party had left. If Li Yan had maintained this kind of vigilance, as soon as there was a chance, she, Mu Guyue, would of course have left immediately.

She was unwilling to live under someone else’s roof for a long time. From then on, she would not have any dissatisfaction with Li Yan. It could be considered that everything had been repaid.

“Let’s go!”

Li Yan didn’t know that at this time, Mu Guyue, whose face was as usual, her heart was in turmoil because of a single sentence from him.

His decision today was based on his repeated observations along the way. Mu Guyue indeed had no more enmity towards him, and he no longer needed to be on guard against her at all times. But after he went back, the necessary precautions would, of course, not be removed. At the same time, in his eyes, that woman was just an arrogant and cold-blooded female demon lord. Her temperament was more focused on killing and slaughter. How could she have the petty thoughts of a young girl?

Then, because Tang Feng was no longer by their side, Li Yan and Mu Guyue both flew up, shoulder to shoulder, their clothes fluttering in the wind as they rode the clouds away!…

…

Not long after Li Yan and the others had returned, on the solitary peak in the northern part of the Soul Suppression Palace, this was the core and important place of the Soul Suppression Palace.

At the summit of the peak was the main hall of the Soul Suppression Palace. The main hall was incomparably magnificent. Because the peak pierced straight into the depths of the clouds, the air near the main hall was unobstructed, and it was perennially shrouded in clouds and mist.

Around the hall was a huge platform that extended for several thousand feet. The ground on the platform was as smooth as a mirror, reflecting the azure sky and the drifting clouds. If one were to walk on it, with the sea of white clouds drifting above, below, and around, for a time, one would not know if they were in heaven or on earth.

At the edge of the huge platform, it was surrounded by high white jade railings. Within the railings, teams of red-armored soldiers were holding halberds and firmly guarding this place. These red-armored soldiers were all solemn-faced. Their lowest cultivation was also at the Nascent Soul realm. Each of them emitted a chilling, iron-blooded killing intent, giving off waves of icy coldness that kept people a thousand miles away.

At this moment, in the spacious main hall, four people were sitting. At the head of the hall sat the contemporary Sect Master, Xue Tieyi, who had a gentle appearance. To his left sat the tall and thin Grandmaster Lan, and an old man with a clear and sharp appearance and white hair. To the right below sat the just-returned Tang Feng.

At this time, Xue Tieyi was looking at Tang Feng with a grave expression.

“You are finally back. I had even sent Elders Ming and Wan out to look for you. Until now, they have not sent back any news!”

Upon hearing the Sect Master’s words, Tang Feng swallowed the question he was about to ask. He was just about to ask where the other two Void Refining elders of the Soul Palace’s Rear Hall had gone.

“Let’s talk about my matter later. Sect Master and the two elders, have you heard any news of Elder Ling? He stayed behind to fight the enemy in order to protect me.”

Although Elder Ling was not an elder of the Aegis Guard or the Rear Hall, he was an elder of the Star Subduing Hall. He was also a core elder of the sect.

“Elder Ling has not returned. However, Elders Ming and Wan were sent out by me at the first opportunity. The two of them have gone deep into the enemy’s rear to look for you. The route they took should be the most direct one. Now that you have returned, they should have missed you! You first tell us what you have found out, and we will judge the situation again. Perhaps the two elders can meet Elder Ling, that is also not impossible!”

Xue Tieyi’s expression did not change. He could see Tang Feng’s anxiety. Since Tang Feng had begun to carry out this mission, Elder Ling had always been by his side, protecting him. The two of them, one in the open and one in the dark, had been together for a long time. This person’s care for Tang Feng could be said to be half a master to him. It was just that in the entire sect, he himself could not be Tang Feng’s master, so even if Elder Ling wanted to take him as a disciple, that was also impossible.

However, all of them knew the relationship between Elder Ling and Tang Feng and were also very polite to Elder Ling.

Hearing that there was still no news of Elder Ling, the aura on Tang Feng’s body immediately began to churn. Before, when he was with Li Yan and the others, although he was anxious to return, even when he had stayed to arrange things for Li Yan, he had not shown the anxiety in his heart.

“Tang Feng, Elder Ling’s cultivation is stronger than mine. You don’t need to worry too much. First tell us what you have encountered, so that we can confirm Elder Ling’s location again. If it really doesn’t work, this old one will also go over!”

Grandmaster Lan, upon seeing this, immediately spoke out.

“Alright, you speak. Grandmaster Lan, you don’t need to go. I will go and find Old Ling!”

The old man with the clear and sharp appearance and white hair raised his arm and gently waved at the few people, and then spoke softly to Tang Feng.