Chapter 1509: Red Sand Covers the Ground
A look of astonishment flashed in Xue Tieyi’s eyes, quickly replaced by a sharp glint.
Great Master Lan was truly cautious to the extreme. At the very beginning, even when she told him alone, she had said it would take four years.
This included the time Li Yan had initially spent cultivating. But now, only a little over three years had passed, and he had already tried his best to delay.
After Great Master Lan spoke just now, she had extended the plan by another year. Xue Tieyi had thought that the previous delay Great Master Lan had given was still not enough.
He had felt helpless in his heart but had not said anything at the time. He had never expected that the moment the others left, Great Master Lan’s tone would take a sharp turn, leaving him greatly surprised and astonished.
Xue Tieyi didn’t know that Great Master Lan was simultaneously urging Li Yan on one side while asking him to delay as much as possible on the other.
She did this to ensure Li Yan had ample time, while at the same time, she was pushing Xue Tieyi’s capabilities to their limit.
“It is time! I will go get Tang Feng. After all, he has been concerned about that Supreme Elder Tang for far too long!”
Great Master Lan walked towards the hall entrance.
A wry smile appeared on Xue Tieyi’s face. In the eyes of others, this plan was known only to himself and the Elder Lan.
How could they know that he was just a figurehead? However, Xue Tieyi felt not the slightest bit of dissatisfaction about this.
He was very strong, but all the affairs of a sect couldn’t be pressed onto his shoulders alone. If that were the case, he would work himself to death.
The various affairs of the sect certainly had to be handled by those who were skilled at them!
…
This was a world filled with red light. On the ground was a vast desert.
As far as the eye could see, the land was covered in sand, and all of it was a dark red color.
Suddenly, a ball of dark red light appeared in the sky. After a moment of distortion, four figures quickly emerged.
Li Yan looked at the space before him and began to observe his surroundings.
Yesterday, Great Master Lan had suddenly appeared in the Civil and Martial Hall. Her purpose in coming was to confirm the current state of Li Yan’s realm stabilization.
Great Master Lan was a person who adhered strictly to her own plans. She always followed the plans she had meticulously laid out, step by step.
It was like her artifact refining; every step was carefully considered and planned in advance. Her rigor was tinged with a bit of old-fashioned stubbornness.
In her plan, she was supposed to come and confirm the results a little ahead of schedule.
In fact, Li Yan had already stabilized his realm a year ago. He had followed her instructions and waited here. Consolidating his cultivation further would only be more beneficial for him.
Yesterday, Great Master Lan had quickly confirmed Li Yan’s situation. He had indeed stabilized his realm ahead of schedule. She then personally tested Li Yan’s cultivation.
Afterward, a look of satisfaction appeared in her eyes.
She did not ask Li Yan when he had stabilized his realm. In her view, as long as he could meet her time plan, that was enough.
Moreover, having more time to stabilize his realm would only make the execution of the plan more effective.
Afterward, Li Yan was quietly placed into a spirit-storing space by Great Master Lan and taken away. Even Elder Liu, who guarded the Civil and Martial Hall, did not know that Li Yan had left.
After Great Master Lan went out, she still had Elder Liu continue to seal off the Civil and Martial Hall, waiting for the Sect Master’s notification before allowing others to enter.
Thus, Li Yan had been staying in her spirit-storing space.
When he reappeared, he found himself standing in front of a teleportation formation again. Beside him were Sect Master Xue Tieyi and Tang Feng.
Li Yan already knew some of the subsequent plans and immediately guessed that they were going to awaken the two Supreme Elders.
Seeing Tang Feng here again, and with the Sect Master present, but none of the other elders, Li Yan first smiled and nodded at Tang Feng, then began to ponder in his heart.
‘If my guess about the purpose of this trip is correct, Tang Feng is only a mid-stage Spirit Transformation cultivator. Why is he here?’
‘Even if he is a core disciple of the Soul Palace’s Rear Hall, there are definitely many late-stage Spirit Transformation cultivators among the disciples in the entire Rear Hall. There should even be some core disciples who are only half a step away from the Void Refining Realm.’
‘Every time it concerns the two Supreme Elders, he appears. This is definitely not because he and I have a good relationship and it’s easier for us to communicate.’
‘Looking at this lineup, it’s just the three of them. It’s clear they don’t want more people to know. But why did he appear?’
‘This person must have another identity. Could he be Xue Tieyi’s disciple?’
Li Yan only knew about Great Master Lan’s disciples; he didn’t know if Xue Tieyi had any disciples, or how many.
In this side hall, Li Yan saw no one on duty. Only the four of them were present. After stepping onto the teleportation formation, Li Yan saw that it was activated by Xue Tieyi himself.
‘This teleportation formation should be controlled only by the Sect Master himself!’ Li Yan immediately made this judgment in his heart.
The moment the four of them appeared above the red desert, Xue Tieyi immediately waved his hand, and a longsword appeared in front of him.
“All of you, get on. Li Yan, this is your first time here. Do not leave this sword before I tell you to. Otherwise, even I won’t be able to save you.”
“Although we have eliminated many of the dangers here, it is still an extremely perilous land. It is not something that a cultivator below the Void Refining Realm can withstand!”
As he spoke, without any visible movement, his figure blurred and reappeared on the longsword.
This made Li Yan feel that the Sect Master’s aura had changed in an instant. His aura had become extremely sharp, like a sword immortal riding a flying sword.
‘This person’s strength is too formidable. And from his appearance, it’s hard to tell that he is a soul cultivator!’ Li Yan thought to himself, but he did not dare to be slow in his reply, quickly saying “Yes.”
Then, he followed Great Master Lan and Tang Feng onto the sword.
Seeing that everyone was on board, Xue Tieyi tapped the longsword with his foot. The sword let out a cry like a dragon’s roar. After a slight tremor, it shot towards the depths of the red desert at extreme speed.
The longsword transformed to be over ten zhang in size, with a blue arc of light surrounding it, enveloping all four of them.
Xue Tieyi and Great Master Lan stood side by side at the front, while Li Yan and Tang Feng stood in the middle of the sword.
“This time, it’s all up to Brother Li!” At this moment, Tang Feng, who had not spoken to Li Yan yet, glanced around and spoke softly.
“Hehehe… Brother Tang, it’s too early to say that. Even now, I don’t know what I’m about to face, or what I need to do next. I can only say that I will do my best!” Li Yan replied in a low voice as well.
“This matter will definitely be explained to you in detail later. Actually, as long as you can perform the art normally, it should be fine…”
As the two were talking, a series of red and blue lights suddenly erupted outside the sword’s barrier, flashing past in an instant.
Li Yan immediately focused his gaze, and their conversation came to a halt.
Due to the blue protective barrier around the sword, Li Yan couldn’t hear any sound from outside. He only saw a sudden burst of brilliant light.
But when his gaze swept around, he saw nothing attacking. It was as if the sword was passing through some invisible barrier, and the light was caused by the breaking of a restriction.
However, the sword itself had not trembled at all. It was as if it was passing through a silent space, with only a slight pause in its speed.
“Even Void Refining Realm experts could perish if they enter here. Brother Li might think we have entered some kind of restriction, but that’s not the case.”
“What just happened was us being attacked. The attacks all came from the red sand below!” Tang Feng immediately explained after seeing Li Yan’s expression, without waiting for him to ask.
“The attacks came from below?”
Li Yan was a little surprised. His gaze fell once more upon the desert below.
He had carefully scanned the area below just now and had not seen any swirling wind or sand. The scene was one of utter tranquility.
When his gaze once again turned to the desert below, he still saw no sand flying up. As far as his eye could see, vast expanses of red sand lay quietly on the ground.
There was no scene of great winds stirring up sand and sending it flying everywhere.
“Those are the attacks. Cultivators of our level can’t even sense the attacks, let alone defend against them. We would be instantly reduced to bones and ashes.”
“And the attacks from the red sand have no pattern whatsoever. It’s extremely difficult to predict when they will strike!” Tang Feng said with certainty.
Li Yan’s hair stood on end. Although he couldn’t penetrate the blue light barrier with his soul power to carefully sense what was outside, he still believed Tang Feng’s words.
He believed that if he left the blue light barrier, he really wouldn’t be able to last even a single breath outside.
The scene before him reminded Li Yan of the “Bone-Melting Wind.” But the “Bone-Melting Wind” was ferocious in appearance, with sand filling the sky. It was a place that looked extremely dangerous at a glance.
But this place was more like a calm lake, without a single ripple.
‘It truly is a perilous land. If I could use my divine sense here, I might be able to sense some of the danger in advance, just like when passing through the ‘Bone-Melting Wind’.’
‘That way, when I reach the edge of the desert, I could choose to avoid it and not enter rashly. Otherwise, without the protection of a heaven-defying magical treasure, death would be certain!’
‘But since the magical treasure Xue Tieyi has brought out can withstand the attacks here, then the Soul-Suppression Palace certainly has the ability to establish a safe passage. But why haven’t they…’
Li Yan’s mind raced.
He felt that although this place was dangerous, the Soul-Suppression Palace was fully capable of establishing a defensive passage. There was no need to take such a risk and cross it like this.
But he quickly figured out the reason. They hadn’t done so for the same reason as the Pure Yang Hall: they were using this place as a natural barrier.
Having an external protective grand formation to block outsiders was not enough. Even if you could enter the grand formation, you still had to be able to pass through this perilous land.
Based on the danger he had seen so far, nine out of ten who came here would be obliterated.
The Soul-Suppression Palace was using this to protect the place they were going to. From this, it was clear that that place was extremely important.
Half an hour later, Li Yan, who was whispering with Tang Feng, felt the longsword under his feet dip, carrying the four of them rapidly downwards.
“We’re here!”
After Tang Feng said this, he immediately stopped talking.