Chapter 1550: To Stay or to Go (Part Two)

“What senior says is correct, but this junior is not accustomed to staying in the ‘Earth-True Domain,’ and I still have many matters to…”

This time, before Li Yan could finish, Elder Hao had already waved his hand at him.

“You don’t need to stay in the ‘Earth-True Domain.’ Even Elder Tang and I will take turns to go out and train in the Immortal Spirit Realm. We must take this opportunity to search for and obtain the cultivation resources of the outside world. You can leave the location of your current sect. If anything comes up, we will send someone to find you. If your sect is not far from here, you can also come back at any time. By the way, you said that sect also has Spirit Transformation cultivators. Are there any people you don’t get along with? We can take care of them for you in secret…”

Elder Hao spoke again.

His words started off sounding normal, but as he continued, Li Yan was startled. A Soul Cultivator was going to secretly deal with someone… he quickly interrupted.

“My sect is just a small one. The strongest cultivator is only at the Initial-stage Spirit Transformation. I am a sect elder, and our relationship is extremely good. It’s just that I’m not familiar with this region and don’t know how far it is from my sect. I’ll only be able to tell once I reach the edge of the Heavenly Demon Prairie! Since I don’t need to stay in the ‘Earth-True Domain,’ then there’s no problem. I am, of course, still a disciple of the Soul-Suppression Palace. If the sect needs me, I will return at any time.”

Li Yan said.

“You? You can’t be a disciple of the Soul-Suppression Palace anymore. You can only be a disciple of the Hellsoul Clan, and from the First Ancestor’s lineage at that. We will also revert to being the Hellsoul Clan in the future. Your seniority is even higher than mine. But for now, your identity within the sect will remain a secret. It is not appropriate to make the matter of the Hellsoul Clan public yet. You will be treated the same as Lan Feng and the others, considered a special existence. In the future, if you have any matters, you can go directly to Tieyi and Lan Feng, or you can come directly to me or Tang Three. (TN: Tang San, a nickname for Elder Tang.) However, the two of us will likely spend more time on training and cultivation. We’ve been suppressed for too long, so it might not be easy to find us, hahaha…”

Elder Hao chuckled.

Great Master Lan at the side remained silent as she had been. Li Yan was an outsider; he had no understanding of Elder Hao’s and the Sect Master’s thoughts.

They were determined to fulfill the Third Ancestor’s wish and reclaim the identity of the Hellsoul Clan. So how could Li Yan still be a disciple of the Soul-Suppression Palace? He had to return with the identity of a disciple of the First Ancestor.

Regardless of whether they could find the Second Ancestor or the successors of the First Ancestor’s two disciples in the future, Li Yan would be the First Ancestor’s third disciple. Only then could they be justified.

Therefore, Li Yan’s status in the Hellsoul Clan could only be high, not low. Otherwise, if the clan members denied you, what reason could you use to refute them?

Hearing this, Li Yan was stunned, but then he seemed to understand and bowed to Elder Hao again.

“Thank you, Senior! I will also record the parts of the ‘Saintly Soul Transformation Art’ that I know for the sect, so that more disciples can cultivate it in the future!”

When Elder Hao and Great Master Lan heard this, a look of pleasant surprise appeared on their faces. Li Yan’s mind was extremely agile. He had brought up the matter on his own initiative without them needing to mention it.

This was a hundred times better than them asking for it. The relationship between them also became more harmonious and solid in that instant.

Moreover, Li Yan’s attitude remained respectful, addressing him as “Senior.” For Elder Hao and Great Master Lan to have to turn around and call Li Yan “Senior” was something they wouldn’t be able to adapt to in a short time.

So for now, everyone would just continue as they were. After Li Yan’s identity was formally confirmed to all members of the sect in the future, they would then address him with the proper respect.

Elder Hao pondered for a moment before saying to Li Yan.

“This is an excellent matter. The issues between us have all been resolved. You no longer need to worry that we will harm you. This has solved even more problems. Now, Li Yan, you still cannot leave for the time being. I hope you can help us! We have only found one exit from the gorge here. We still need to explore for other exits. The final result we want to achieve is to have only this one exit! And others must not know about this place. We will later use a teleportation formation to send people away, teleporting them to a certain place in the Heavenly Demon Prairie. We will have to go and find a suitable place for that as well, to ensure that the ‘Earth-True Domain’ is not easily invaded. Otherwise, if our own nest is destroyed, what’s the point of talking about inheritance and Dao traditions! Therefore, there are still many things to do. The one thing I cannot solve here is the chaotic forces. We still need your assistance for that!”

After hearing this, Li Yan thought for a moment and then nodded in agreement.

The Soul-Suppression Palace no longer held any hostility towards him, and in the future, he would also need to borrow their strength. No matter how anxious Li Yan was, he couldn’t be stingy with this bit of time.

“That is certainly not a problem. But after the initial matters are handled, I cannot wait for the sect to build the teleportation formation. If anything comes up later, you can just come and find me!”

Neither of them had any objection to Li Yan’s proposal.

In truth, they were only asking Li Yan to help resolve the issue of the chaotic forces. As for other aspects, Li Yan really couldn’t be of much help.

And establishing a grand formation and sorting out the affairs within the “Earth-True Domain” was not something that could be accomplished overnight. It might take ten years, a hundred years, or even longer.

Thus, the three of them retreated back into the gorge!

At the entrance of the gorge, Great Master Lan once again inspected the concealment formation. At the same time, Elder Hao personally took action, setting up some restrictions at the valley entrance within the formation.

During this time, while the two were busy, Li Yan also quietly and silently retrieved the “Earthen Patch”…

After they retreated, they discovered that the chaotic forces that had been cleared from the gorge, just like in the cave at the throat, had lost their source and could no longer be generated. This finally brought a sense of relief to their hearts.

However, they discovered a problem. Even though this passage had been opened, it hadn’t changed the Rules of Heaven and Earth within the gorge much.

On the contrary, the shackles of heaven and earth within still existed; it was just that the chaotic forces were gone from the gorge.

As they retreated back into the gorge, the further they went, their Divine Sense was still compressed back bit by bit.

By the time they had completely exited the gorge and reached the edge of the silver desert, their Divine Sense had been completely suppressed back into their bodies. The three of them were back to their original state.

After pondering for a while, Elder Hao offered an explanation. The Rules of Heaven and Earth here had already been completely formed. They had only opened a small gap in one place.

Fundamentally, this was unlikely to shake the shackles of the Rules of Heaven and Earth here. Unless they opened up at least thirty percent of the “Earth-True Domain,” perhaps these rules could be shaken at their core.

This meant that the cultivators staying here were still under the original Rules of Heaven and Earth. Nothing had changed, and no one could break through to the Tribulation Transcendence Realm within.

Li Yan pondered for a moment and asked the two if they would next explore the entire head region and then open up some more gorges to the outside.

Once there was a disparity between the internal and external rule forces, they could try to change the Rules of Heaven and Earth here.

But this idea was immediately rejected by Elder Hao. What they needed to do next was to determine the number of gorges containing chaotic forces and see if they could find any traces left by the old Sect Master and the others.

As for paths to the outside, on the contrary, they needed to record all the passages that could potentially be infiltrated. In the later stages, the sect would have to use a large amount of resources to reinforce them again.

“Those who need to advance to the Body Integration Realm and above will go to the outside world to find a suitable place. We will preserve the current suppression of the Rules of Heaven and Earth here. In the future, even if an enemy invades, their combat power will be weakened severalfold in an instant, while we can exert our strongest combat power!”

Elder Hao stated his thoughts.

“But once they advance, cultivators at the Tribulation Transcendence stage and above may not be able to come back! If they force their way back, the powerful rule fluctuations carried by a Tribulation Transcendence cultivator themselves could very well cause this place to collapse.”

Li Yan thought for a moment.

“Hahaha… It’s enough to have Body Integration Realm cultivators guarding this place. Why would a cultivator at Tribulation Transcendence or above need to come back? This is no different from the situation in the Lower Realm where one can no longer break through after reaching the Spirit Transformation Realm. Just treat this place as an original sect in the Lower Realm, and that will be fine. Once we truly reach the Tribulation Transcendence stage and above, we will establish an outer sect in the outside world. By then, the chances of being coveted by others will be extremely slim!”

Elder Hao chuckled again, and this time, even Great Master Lan smiled.

After a moment of shock, Li Yan realized he had been getting stuck on a minor point. It seemed that they had probably already thought about this outcome countless times when they were trying to escape.

And just at that moment, Elder Hao suddenly turned his head to look in a certain direction.

“Hmm? Why is there someone else here?”

Elder Hao instantly sensed a fluctuation of Soul Power, but Great Master Lan and Li Yan were both at a loss, not having sensed any abnormality yet.

But they also looked in the direction Elder Hao was looking. It was the direction of the cave formed by the throat.

“It’s… it’s Elder Tang. Why is he here?”

After sensing the presence of another person, Elder Hao immediately became vigilant. He had scouted this area before and had not found any living beings other than the three of them.

But the next moment, he was astonished. He could be mistaken about others, but he had been with Elder Tang for who knows how many years.

Amidst his surprise, he immediately recognized the person from the familiar fluctuation of Soul Power.

Then, his voice rolled out like a tidal wave.

“Tang Three, watch out for the silver sand! Why have you come?”

Hearing Elder Hao’s successive shouts, Li Yan and Great Master Lan were also surprised. They had no idea why Elder Tang was here.

“You’ve opened a passage to the outside world?”

At the same time, Elder Tang’s voice reverberated through this space…

A short while later, a figure arrived like a bolt of lightning.

Li Yan felt his vision darken, and a figure stood clearly there, as if someone had been standing there all along, without any sense of abruptness.