Chapter 1528: The Whole Story (Part Two)

What Xue Tieyi said on this point was somewhat different from what Great Master Lan had told Li Yan back then. But of course, that was all said when details couldn’t be explained, just to give Li Yan a general idea.

However, the power of the grand formation that the old Sect Master wanted to set up had to be strong enough to resist Body Integration Realm cultivators to achieve the desired effect.

Therefore, he needed help. So, the old Sect Master began to prepare from various aspects. After nearly three thousand years of preparation, he finally gathered all the refining materials.

Then, he took five Void Refining elders from the sect and entered the space behind the mountain crevice together, having them help him refine and construct the formation.

At first, this matter went quite smoothly. At one point, the formation even extended three hundred li into the cave.

And at that time, the old Sect Master would come out at regular intervals to replenish the necessary materials.

But one day, an accident suddenly happened. That day, the area suddenly shook violently, and a series of explosions were heard.

Such explosions had occurred before, and although they could be sensed in the Soul-Suppression Palace in the front mountains, they were not very strong.

Moreover, when the old Sect Master and his team were setting up the formation before, they also needed to contend with those chaotic powers, and similar situations had occurred.

What’s more, that Perilous Land was strictly forbidden for others to enter casually. So, after the loud noise that day, it did not attract the attention of the sect.

But from that time on, the old Sect Master never appeared in the sect again. Later, when the Sect Master at that time realized something was wrong, he hurriedly entered that Perilous Land to investigate personally.

However, not long after he entered the mountain crevice using the cultivation manual left by the old Sect Master, he nearly got lost inside.

Fortunately, he reacted in time and quickly retreated.

The space behind the mountain crevice was a place the Sect Master had been to with the old Sect Master before, but it was nothing like what he saw when he entered later.

Although there was yellow fog there before, under the cover of the grand formation, one could still clearly distinguish the direction.

But from then on, with the grand formation damaged, the yellow fog became even denser, making it impossible to distinguish directions.

Fortunately, at the location of the mountain crevice, there was a sealing formation that the old Sect Master had set up before. He was afraid that an accident might occur while he was setting up the formation inside.

Although it was just a precaution, a problem really did occur. It was that seal that blocked the yellow fog from spreading out. Otherwise, it might be impossible to travel far in the current Earth-True Domain.

After that, the Sect Master at that time, along with several Void Refining cultivators, continued to investigate for a long time, trying to find the whereabouts of the old Sect Master and the other five.

But as soon as they entered the area behind the mountain crevice, they would lose their way. Although they took various precautions, they had actually only explored a short distance behind the crevice.

But even with ample preparation, one Void Refining elder still entered and never came out again.

Thus, that place became a forbidden zone for the sect. It wasn’t until two Supreme Elders appeared later that the two of them joined forces and tried to enter again.

Feeling that they should be able to handle it, they truly entered. And what happened next was the result that Li Yan had seen last time.

It wasn’t until Li Yan pointed out the path for the two Supreme Elders that they were able to return to the sect.

However, the two Supreme Elders’ entry this time also yielded many clues.

After getting lost, they wandered around inside. In the end, they entered a formation. And that formation was the foundation of the grand formation that the old Sect Master had set up outside the throat cave.

Inside that formation, one could completely distinguish directions, and even walk to the cave at the very back. But once one left that formation, one would become completely directionless.

However, because the area covered by that formation was very large, they estimated that it occupied at least thirty percent of the space behind the mountain crevice.

In addition, there was a chaotic power within the formation that could be sensed. Even if one re-entered the yellow fog and got lost, one could still find the grand formation again after some effort.

Thus, one could break through the restriction from any position of the grand formation and enter it.

So, during those long years, the two Supreme Elders used the formation as their base camp, constantly flying out to search for the exit back to the sect.

After a certain period of time, they would slowly find their way back to the grand formation and return inside to cultivate and recover.

During these years, they also explored the cave within the grand formation. The entrance of the cave was filled with that kind of chaotic power.

Based on this, they judged that the old Sect Master and his team had not been able to successfully complete the task of extending the formation several hundred li into the cave.

However, they could still see traces of the formation at the entrance of the cave.

This led them to speculate whether the old Sect Master and his team had encountered some kind of collision with the chaotic power inside the cave while constructing the formation, which led to an accident that caused all the formations inside the cave to collapse.

This then triggered a change in the area behind the mountain. The grand formation was mostly destroyed, and more yellow dense fog appeared, making it even more difficult for people to enter.

Therefore, they guessed that the old Sect Master and those Void Refining elders had likely all perished inside.

This included the Void Refining elder who later got lost while searching for the old Sect Master and his team. It was possible that after finding this cave, he had tried to enter it and was also torn apart by those chaotic powers. However, there was another possibility. Although the Soul Lamps of the old Sect Master and his team had all been extinguished, was it possible that they had already broken through to the final part of the throat at that time?

An accident happened at that moment, and the old Sect Master and his group, using the power of the formation inside the cave, tried to force open the other end.

Or perhaps it was only opened for an instant, but it was enough for them to escape. Then, when those chaotic powers were generated again, they once again sealed off heaven and earth.

This made it impossible for the Soul Lamps in the sect to sense the existence of those people, so they were extinguished.

Although Xue Tieyi narrated in the most concise way possible, it still took a long time.

But when he reached the end, regarding the disappearance of the old Sect Master and the others, although he said there were two speculations, everyone knew that the latter one was just a hope.

The probability of that was already extremely slim. Nine times out of ten, the old Sect Master and those people had already perished.

And they had likely perished in that cave. Otherwise, they would definitely have thought of breaking through again from the outside.

From this, one could see how dangerous the so-called throat was.

After Xue Tieyi finished introducing these matters, he then looked at Li Yan with a solemn expression and said.

“This time, we are going to explore that cave again. After the two Supreme Elders went missing, we have been making various preparations.”

“A few years ago, the other preparations were almost complete, and you are one of the links. Before, your Power of the Cold Moon was insufficient and required the help of Great Master Lan’s medicinal pills.”

“But that kind of medicinal pill is already very difficult to refine, so we required you to rely on your own cultivation.”

“Your role is to accompany Elder Hao and Great Master Lan into the area behind the mountain crevice, and then search for the throat.”

“This could be a very short time, but it could also be ten, twenty, or even a hundred years. But it is definitely possible to find it.”

“Once you get there, it will be up to Great Master Lan and Elder Hao to act!”

“And what you are responsible for is, regardless of whether the throat is opened in the end, you must continuously release the Power of the ‘Cold Moon’ every month.”

“On this side, Elder Tang will be outside the mountain. Also every month, just like you did last time, he will release the Power of the Cold Moon once, guided by the ‘Soul-Lodged Moon’.”

“Once you need to return, you can be pulled back. This is all you need to do. For everything else inside, just follow the arrangements of Elder Hao and the others.”

Xue Tieyi quickly finished his introduction and explained Li Yan’s role.

After hearing this, Li Yan was slightly stunned at first.

‘Why aren’t they letting Elder Tang go in? If he went in, with two Body Integration Realm cultivators assisting Great Master Lan, wouldn’t the chances be much higher?’

But the next moment, he understood the reason. Once bitten by a snake, twice shy of a coiled rope.

This time, the Soul-Suppression Palace would not put all its eggs in one basket, no matter what.

According to what Xue Tieyi had said before, exploring that cave was very dangerous. No matter what method Great Master Lan and the others had, a situation similar to the old Sect Master’s could still occur.

If his guess was correct, Great Master Lan would either use some kind of formation or some magical treasure to break the restriction. These two were her specialties.

And the other party had said they had been preparing all along, which meant they were waiting for Great Master Lan’s side to finish refining the formation or magical treasure.

But once inside, if they failed to counterbalance the chaotic power of the cave, the three of them might perish. So, this trip was not without danger for him; there was a fifty-fifty chance that he might die inside.

Therefore, they left Elder Tang San outside, so that the sect would not completely lose its Body Integration Realm cultivators. And they made him act as the tether. To put it bluntly, they were still using him.

But regardless of whether it was the other party’s forceful use of him, or Li Yan’s own inner desires, he was willing to act as this tether.

This was an opportunity he had tried every means to obtain, especially since he could even see the suspected exit to the outside world with his own eyes.

If he didn’t fight for it now, what other chance would he have?

“No problem, this disciple will definitely do his best!”

Li Yan agreed without the slightest hesitation.

Hearing Li Yan agree so readily, a smile appeared on the faces of everyone present.

Since Li Yan had already agreed, the two Supreme Elders were the first to stand up. They did not want any more delays.

Then, they led the way out of the hall. Tang Feng also walked quickly to Li Yan’s side and said in a low, rapid voice.

“Brother Li, this is an all-out gamble for us. Everything depends on you!”

After speaking, he cupped his fists in a salute to Li Yan…