Chapter 1563: Confirming Strength

After settling the matter with Feng Hongyue, Li Yan continued to contemplate his future plans. He might need to make a trip out to find Jia Fugui and the others. However, these matters would have to wait until after Mu Guyue’s elder induction ceremony.

Besides gathering information, Li Yan also needed to enhance his own strength and strive to advance to Mid-stage Spirit Transformation as soon as possible. But for now, Li Yan first had to test the power of the Gui Water Immortal Sect’s arts now that he had reached the Spirit Transformation Realm. In the Earth-True Domain, with Body Integration Realm cultivators present, he hadn’t dared to use any arts other than soul cultivation, especially not the cultivation methods of the Gui Water Immortal Sect…

Five days later, after returning to the sect, Li Yan once again plunged into his cultivation chamber. This time, he was extremely satisfied with the results of his arts testing. His Divine Sense’s power was a given. He had tested it more than once on the way back from the Heavenly Demon Prairie with Tang Feng, so he already knew that his Divine Sense could now cover a range of over twenty-three thousand li. It was precisely because Tang Feng was always by his side that Li Yan had been unable to test his other cultivation methods, generally relying on soul cultivation attack methods. He couldn’t let Tang Feng think he had too many other tricks up his sleeve.

After this round of testing, Li Yan had a clear understanding of his strength. His Nascent Soul’s Instantaneous Movement distance had reached over seven thousand li, whereas at the Late-stage Nascent Soul, it was only around five thousand eight hundred li. This meant that if Li Yan’s physical body could not be preserved, his Nascent Soul could instantly throw an enemy off by nearly ten thousand li—an unparalleled means of escape. Of course, Li Yan hoped he would never have to use this technique.

The Stealthy Night Art had also improved once again. Li Yan could now fly at high speeds with barely any spatial fluctuations. However, this was only in terms of concealment against Spirit Transformation Realm cultivators. Against Void Refining Realm cultivators, Li Yan wasn’t sure how effective it would be. This meant that if Li Yan encountered an enemy, he no longer had to limit his speed when using this art to escape. His evasion arts were once again strengthened. Moreover, due to Li Yan’s comprehension of the laws of the Five Elements, Yin, and Yang, under the Stealthy Night Art, he could better become wind in the wind and water in the rain, merging with heaven and earth. Li Yan estimated that even a Late-stage Spirit Transformation cultivator would have a hard time finding a flaw in his concealment while he was flying quickly.

The Quaking Cosmos art surprised Li Yan even more. This heaven-defying cultivation method, which granted the physical body a form of instantaneous movement, could now cover ten thousand li in a single flicker. However, Li Yan himself could still only use it a maximum of seven times in one go. But the significant increase in distance brought Li Yan immense joy.

The power of the Five Elements Disarray Mantle showed the most overall improvement this time! This was also because Li Yan’s advancement to Spirit Transformation had deepened his understanding of spatial laws and the Five Elements laws. Now, when Li Yan used it, it didn’t just cause chaos and turmoil in the surrounding Five Elements laws. Instead, these law forces would form an incohesive cutting power, like shards of space. The formation of these forces could now directly shred living beings within its range. This was very similar to the chaotic forces in the Earth-True Domain, and it was precisely while clearing those chaotic forces that Li Yan had this new enlightenment, causing the art to change.

Now, when Li Yan used the Five Elements Disarray Mantle, any cultivator below the Spirit Transformation Realm in his path would be shredded into countless pieces. Even against a Late-stage Spirit Transformation cultivator, this art could inflict considerable physical damage.

And it wasn’t just the Five Elements Disarray Mantle that was influenced by the chaotic forces of the Earth-True Domain; The Five Elements Return to Primordial Genesis was as well. It was this very cultivation method that had allowed them to walk out of the Earth-True Domain. One could say that for a large portion of those years, Li Yan had been using this cultivation method almost constantly. So, invisibly, he had actually been cultivating this art all along.

This had caused the meridians in Li Yan’s body, due to being constantly battered by immense Spirit Power in a brutal manner, to become so robust that Li Yan himself found it unimaginable. As a result, even when Li Yan wasn’t combining the Five Elements to cast an art, just by casually casting any single art, his meridians could withstand a flow of Spirit Power four times thicker than that of a normal Initial-stage Spirit Transformation cultivator. One could imagine that when Li Yan unleashed an art, the power contained within was increased several times over.

When cultivation arts reached a certain level, even increasing their power by a small amount was incredibly difficult, requiring an unknown amount of time in bitter cultivation. In most cases, this problem could only be solved by raising one’s realm. Yet again, the power of Li Yan’s arts had left cultivators of the same rank far behind. But he had suffered immensely for it. In order to prevent the already dissipated chaotic forces from regenerating from their source and filling the void, Li Yan had barely rested for those few years. His meridians were often in a state of sore, throbbing, and stabbing pain, even reaching a point where they could rupture at any moment. But he would only quickly recover before enduring the severe pain and casting the art again.

Fortunately, his physical body was incomparably tough, his foundation among his peers established to an unparalleled degree. After cultivating the Qiongqi Purgatory Art to the seventh level, the strength of his physical body was already comparable to that of an Initial-stage Void Refining cultivator. Moreover, he possessed the endless regenerative ability of the Undead Nether Phoenix’s Essence Blood. Coupled with the numerous maddeningly high-grade medicinal pills provided by a Body Integration Realm cultivator, he had managed to persevere.

Over the past few days, Li Yan tested these cultivation methods one by one and was already quite satisfied with his current strength. Now, when facing a Void Refining Realm cultivator, especially an Initial-stage one, he was no longer completely helpless and had a certain degree of confidence in preserving his life.

In the cultivation chamber, Li Yan stroked his chin, his eyes flashing with a brilliant light. The only thing that could quickly enhance his strength next was the thirty-third faint green thread that had appeared. He still hadn’t had the time to test the effects of this new Fragmented Poison. At the same time, the Tidefall art was also very important. Since he planned to cross the Heavenly Demon Prairie in the future, this cultivation method had to be improved. Like the time he had used it to evade the pursuit of the Golden-Winged Great Peng woman, this art had been indispensable. Therefore, if he could cultivate the Tidefall art to the Great Perfection stage, his life-saving trump card for entering the Heavenly Demon Prairie would be strengthened by another level.

With this thought, the cross-legged Li Yan slowly closed his eyes. A wisp of his Divine Sense entered the space between his chest and abdomen, and he began to carefully observe the green thread…

After Li Yan’s return, it only caused a stir among the older disciples who saw him. But as Li Yan once again went into seclusion, everything soon returned to tranquility.

More than twenty days after Li Yan’s return, on this day, a long streak of light suddenly tore through the sky from afar, flying rapidly towards the Broken Army Sect. After a few flashes, the streak of light landed before the main gate of the Broken Army Sect. As the light faded, two figures were revealed.

One of them was quite tall, a Daoist who appeared to be in his forties. He had a three-stranded beard under his chin, a jade hairpin holding his topknot in place, and his green Daoist robe gave him an immortal-like air. By his side stood an exceptionally beautiful young woman, who only reached the height of the Daoist’s shoulder. She was a lovely young woman, appearing to be in her early twenties, dressed in a pale yellow dress. Her figure was quite full-bodied, yet perfectly proportioned with alluring curves. Her hair was styled in two ring-shaped buns, and as soon as she landed, her large eyes darted around, looking at everything.

“Senior, may I ask what brings you here?”

As the visitors had made no attempt to conceal their aura, the disciples guarding the gate had long noticed the approaching light and had scanned it with their Divine Sense. The scan left them horrified. The young woman was a Nascent Soul cultivator, but the Daoist simply stood there like a bottomless abyss; they couldn’t probe his cultivation at all. Furthermore, it was clear that the young woman was behaving very obediently by the Daoist’s side, making their respective statuses obvious. One could only imagine how terrifying the Daoist’s cultivation must be.

The Daoist’s face was stern, giving off an air that warned strangers to keep their distance. However, since the two did not force their way into the sect, the disciples guarding the gate could only be even more polite. Shangguan Tianque detested those who bullied others by relying on their power. He knew full well the difficulties the Broken Army Sect had overcome to be established. And as the saying goes, conquering a kingdom is easy, but ruling it is hard. This further illustrated that a sect’s prosperity or decline could be ruined by a few low-level disciples. Therefore, he had repeatedly given strict orders that for any normal visitor, they were not to engage in the act of looking down on people.

But over the years, as the Broken Army Sect grew more powerful, some disciples had become arrogant and gradually tyrannical. When Yu Banjiang learned of this, he had mercilessly expelled such disciples several times, even crippling their cultivation. This made the current disciples of the Broken Army Sect understand that the sect’s bottom line was very high, and they would not tolerate any misbehavior. As a result, each and every one of them adhered more strictly to the sect rules.

“I am Chongyangzi of the Pure Yang Hall, here to see your sect’s Li Yan!” the green-robed Daoist said to the disciples…

In a short while, Yu Banjiang, Shangguan Tianque, and Ren Yanyu all appeared at the front gate. When Yu Banjiang received the message from the disciples, he was truly shocked. Someone from the Pure Yang Hall had come, and they were looking for Li Yan. For a moment, he had no idea what had happened. He quickly questioned the reporting disciple and heard that the visitor had arrived with a solemn expression, as if looking for trouble. Looking at the token presented to him, Yu Banjiang confirmed the visitor’s identity was indeed a cultivator from the Pure Yang Hall.

He was not familiar with the Pure Yang Hall; at most, he was somewhat familiar with the Blood Lantern Sect. The Pure Yang Hall was a lofty entity that normally wouldn’t deal directly with a subordinate sect like the Broken Army Sect, instead delegating matters to the Blood Lantern Sect. Yu Banjiang had hoped to guess the visitor’s mood from their expression, but the disciples said the person was expressionless, his face extremely grave. This immediately made Yu Banjiang think that perhaps Li Yan, having been missing for so many years, had inadvertently offended someone from the Pure Yang Hall. If that were the case, Li Yan definitely couldn’t come forward. That would leave no room for mediation. After some thought, he hurriedly sent a voice transmission to his master!

Just as Yu Banjiang arrived at the main gate, two figures descended rapidly from the sky—it was Shangguan Tianque and Ren Yanyu. Upon receiving the voice transmission, although Shangguan Tianque was also unsure of the situation, he was afraid something had happened and immediately flew over. Ren Yanyu happened to be by his side and followed without hesitation.

Seeing his master and martial uncle arrive, Yu Banjiang’s eyes showed a hint of shame. He was already the sect master, yet he still had to trouble his master with many things. But Shangguan Tianque wouldn’t think that way. Someone from the Pure Yang Hall had come; no matter what it was about, he had to appear in person. And he had no time to think about much else.

When Shangguan Tianque saw the two people standing outside the main gate, he recognized the visitor’s identity at a glance and immediately stepped forward to bow. “Greetings, Senior Chongyangzi!”

He and Ren Yanyu both knew Chongyangzi. This Senior Chongyangzi had been the supervisor for the Great Nothingness Fruit picking event several times recently. Therefore, they had met him before. What surprised Shangguan Tianque even more was that the Chongyangzi before him had already broken through to the Void Refining Realm.

Ren Yanyu and Yu Banjiang also hurriedly followed with a bow, then stood with their hands clasped.

Chongyangzi looked at the people who had come out; it wasn’t Li Yan. He frowned, as he had made himself quite clear. But he recognized Shangguan Tianque and Ren Yanyu, so he waved his hand. “Mm, your cultivation has improved greatly. No need for formalities. I’m here to find Li Yan. Just take me to him.”

“This… Junior Brother Li is in seclusion. If it’s a sect matter, this junior can also be of service to Senior!” Shangguan Tianque’s face showed a hint of hesitation.