Chapter 1637: Meticulous Caution
Kong Qianchu and Min Bufu carefully swept their Divine Sense over every single item, probing with extreme meticulousness.
They acted with prudence, never taking the initiative to touch unfamiliar things. This was also an instinct carved into their bones.
Finally, the two confirmed that everything here was an item issued by the Supreme Polarity Dao Sect.
If they took these items away, Li Yan and his companion would lose their identity tokens. Once the duo returned, they would first be thrown into a dungeon.
They would only be released after their identities were re-verified. And if that were the case, Zhao Haiyang would have too many methods he could use on these two.
“Do they truly not intend to return?”
Min Bufu also felt it was strange.
“But the Lord only told Mu Guyue about transferring her to be an adjutant. Is their reaction truly this intense?”
Kong Qianchu also felt that Li Yan and Mu Guyue’s approach was too drastic.
Did they intend to defect from the Supreme Polarity Dao Sect? Otherwise, once they returned and were locked up for identity verification, wouldn’t Lord Zhao be able to deal with them without much effort?
And just at this moment, Min Bufu’s expression suddenly shifted.
“Scatter!”
On the other side, Kong Qianchu’s figure also suddenly swayed.
“We’ve been ambushed!”
Kong Qianchu also let out an exclamation.
“Are you two fellow Daoists looking for us?”
Just then, a calm voice suddenly rang out in the night sky.
Simultaneously as this voice sounded, Kong Qianchu and Min Bufu suddenly split apart. While turning in mid-air, they looked toward the distance.
In the dead of night, two silhouettes abruptly appeared in the sky outside the valley.
“It’s you!”
The moment Min Bufu’s Divine Sense swept over the appearances of the two, a cold killing intent immediately appeared in his eyes. The appearances of those two were exactly the disguised versions of Li Yan and Mu Guyue they had seen yesterday.
Li Yan and Mu Guyue stood side-by-side in the air, watching the two people who had instantly split apart in front of them. They felt a sense of admiration in their hearts.
“These are indeed top-tier scouts. Throughout the entire operation, they left almost no flaws and handled things with extreme detail.”
Yesterday, while Kong Qianchu and his companion were lurking and searching for Li Yan’s group, weren’t Li Yan and his companion doing the same?
Kong Qianchu and his companion were experienced veterans. Throughout the process of searching for them, even with the eyes of Li Yan’s duo, they hadn’t seen the other party show any flaws.
Even after the array was broken, they immediately dodged the dissipating array light.
And whether it was the storage bag or the items inside, their bodies didn’t touch them in the slightest.
During this process, Li Yan and his companion had also confirmed through several hours of observation that Zhao Haiyang was not among the two.
Thus, they finally revealed themselves from the distance.
The instant Li Yan and Mu Guyue appeared, the old and the young standing by the wall immediately scattered into a pincer position.
Both sides reacted with startling speed. The moment Kong Qianchu saw the other party and circulated his magical power with all his might, he felt bursts of stinging pain on the skin of his legs, which then entered his body.
But his reaction was also extremely fast. He didn’t even lower his head to see what was happening. Instead, light flashed in his hands and rapidly expanded in front of him…
At the same time, Min Bufu on the other side also felt an intense stinging in his legs. He likewise did not observe the injury. A bamboo leaf appeared in front of him and enlarged in an instant!
However, just as they were about to act, a faint and nearly invisible spectral glow flickered and vanished from the center of Li Yan and Mu Guyue’s foreheads.
The reactions of Kong Qianchu and Min Bufu across from them were already fast enough to leave no gap. When Li Yan’s voice sounded, the two had already sacrificed their magic treasures.
Simultaneously, the magical power in their bodies circulated frantically to block the spread of that stinging pain.
The treasures were still forming. They only needed a sliver more time to attack the enemy directly, while simultaneously flying backward to check their injuries.
However, in this spark of a flint, their gazes suddenly froze. Both felt as though a sharp blade had suddenly pierced their souls head-on.
That intense pain was the most excruciating they had ever felt in their lives, even ten thousand times more painful than being flayed or having their bones extracted.
They wanted to howl toward the sky in agony, but as their magical power dissipated, their chests and throats felt as though they were being scorched by fire, making them unable to make a sound.
At the same time, their vision went black, and both fell head-first from the air.
All of this happened in the time it takes to breathe. The battle had ended as soon as it began; the entire process felt startlingly easy.
As Kong Qianchu and his companion fell, Li Yan flew closer from the distance, while Mu Guyue remained in her original position in the air.
That was because Li Yan had warned her not to touch those two.
Li Yan’s figure was as fast as lightning. After one sweep, he returned to Mu Guyue’s side, holding the two unconscious men in his hands.
The faces of the two were flushed red, but their eyes were tightly closed. Their cultivation had already been sealed once more by Li Yan.
Having lost the support of magical power, the “Ghost-Transformation Pills” quickly lost their efficacy, and the two revealed their original faces.
To deal with these two, Li Yan and Mu Guyue had discussed for a long time, fearing that the Void Refining stage Zhao Haiyang would come in person.
In the end, Li Yan suggested attempting an ambush, with Li Yan handling the actual execution.
Mu Guyue had no objections to this. She knew where her strengths lay, and Li Yan had been extremely skilled in these schemes since the Foundation Establishment stage.
Furthermore, Li Yan had deeply grasped the essence of the Specter Sect, and the terrifying poisons on his person were endless.
Afterward, the two quickly moved far away from here!
Li Yan had set up Disintegration Poison, but he also thought that as a scout, Zhao Haiyang wouldn’t be easily fooled.
Therefore, he had specifically considered the method of poisoning, ensuring that he could also neutralize the toxins he deployed.
As it turned out, although Zhao Haiyang didn’t come, these two were equally vigilant, being especially cautious of the array, the storage bag, and the items inside.
However, once the methods intended for Zhao Haiyang were triggered by these two, they were doomed!
Li Yan had scattered several types of combined Disintegration Poisons in the surrounding grass, and he had distributed them in extremely fine particles.
Fearing that Zhao Haiyang’s perception would be too keen, these combined Disintegration Poisons had their toxicity neutralized, turning into “poisons” that were seemingly useless.
This was also the result of Li Yan’s continuous research on Disintegration Poison over the centuries; he wasn’t just capable of combining them into more intense toxins.
He could also make Disintegration Poison become entirely harmless after combination.
Of course, Mu Guyue knew nothing of this; otherwise, she could only wonder why Li Yan would do such a thing.
Afterward, Li Yan took out a spirit insect. This was something Zhao Min had given him, though for the current Li Yan, it was almost useless.
But it depended on how it was used. Li Yan specifically chose a parasitic insect larva. The trace of aura emitted by this larva was completely masked by the dense spiritual energy of the Immortal Spirit Realm.
Li Yan then drove this insect to enter the brain of a bird, which was just an ordinary avian.
No matter how small the insect was, it was still a small monster. The bird was instantly controlled, and it began hopping around, foraging in the nearby cliffs or grass…
At that time, while Mu Guyue was on guard for the ambushing Li Yan, she also observed him. She saw him move like a ghost, appearing in various positions in the valley.
Occasionally, he would stop and stare at the grass or tall shrubs in front of him for a brief moment…
Finally, she saw Li Yan take out a spirit insect and aim it at a bird. Mu Guyue felt a headache coming on.
She could almost never guess Li Yan’s methods. She didn’t know how much this man understood; how did Li Yan also know insect-driving arts?
She had never seen Li Yan use a spirit insect before…
It wasn’t until nearly dawn that Li Yan and Mu Guyue quietly sneaked back. They remained far from the valley but were already able to communicate with that bird.
Finally, from the memory of that insect, Li Yan was shocked to find that people had indeed come, and they were the very old and young cultivators he and Mu Guyue had suspected.
Those two only briefly revealed their figures after discovering they had been tricked. However, from the short dialogue between the two.
Li Yan felt that Zhao Haiyang shouldn’t be there. He immediately told Mu Guyue about these circumstances.
After a brief discussion and knowing the two had returned to the valley, they finally decided to act against them.
But Li Yan then sought Mu Guyue’s opinion, saying that since they needed to approach the valley, he might need to temporarily put Mu Guyue into the Spirit-Storage Space.
He would then approach using his own concealment technique, which would reduce the chance of being discovered. Upon hearing this, Mu Guyue only gave Li Yan a sidelong glance with her phoenix eyes.
But she agreed. She knew Li Yan’s concealment method was very, very strong—she really couldn’t compare. If someone else had said this, it would only make her feel displeased.
Demons were proud and had strong self-esteem. They feared most being a burden or being looked down upon by their companions.
But when Li Yan said it, Mu Guyue actually felt that Li Yan truly regarded her as his Dao companion. This gave her a rare sense of sweetness in her heart, and she happily agreed.
Li Yan then entered the valley using “Ebb Tide” and “Night-Hidden Stealth.”
Despite Kong Qianchu and Min Bufu having reached the late-stage of Spirit Transformation, they didn’t detect Li Yan’s approach at all.
In truth, even if Li Yan had suddenly attacked them then, they would have been caught off guard. But for the sake of stability and fearing that Zhao Haiyang might unexpectedly appear.
He continued to watch Kong Qianchu’s duo from the shadows. The moment he saw the other party pull the items out of the storage bag and they hit the grass.
A smile curled at the corners of Li Yan’s mouth. Those items were also coated with his combined “poison,” although those toxins could not harm anyone.
However, once they touched the “poison” he had laid out on the grass, it would spread immediately.
And upon contacting other grass and shrubs within a certain area, the “poison” laid out yesterday would change instantly, giving birth to a true, lethal toxin!
It wasn’t that Kong Qianchu and his companion were careless. On the contrary, they had been exceptionally prudent from beginning to end; they had searched every spot in the valley many times.
They hadn’t found anything at all. Simultaneously, they hadn’t felt any discomfort here before, so they didn’t pay any more attention to the grass they were standing on.
Instead, they focused all their attention on the array before the wall and that pile of items, and subsequently… the two stared at that spot for dozens of breaths.
In those dozens of breaths, Li Yan felt the time was right. While seeing Kong Qianchu’s body sway, he immediately communicated with Mu Guyue.
He said only one sentence.
“Target the younger one with Soul-Sunder Slash. Spare his life!”
Mu Guyue simultaneously appeared at his side.
She immediately saw the old and the young splitting apart. That was the fastest reaction Min Bufu made after first sensing the spatial ripple.
Mu Guyue did not hesitate at Li Yan’s words in the slightest and immediately sacrificed the “Soul-Sunder Slash” toward Kong Qianchu!
Li Yan didn’t care if those two were poisoned; he wouldn’t stay his hand. Only a fallen enemy was a good enemy!
Soul cultivation techniques were inherently mysterious and eerie, and Kong Qianchu and Min Bufu knew the strength of Li Yan’s duo.
But precisely because of this, they never dreamed that the two in front of them also possessed the methods of soul cultivators.
Poor Kong Qianchu and Min Bufu—in just one exchange, while being poisoned, their souls were struck by a blade.
This was originally intended to deal with Zhao Haiyang. They were in the same stage as Li Yan’s duo and hadn’t practiced techniques to strengthen their souls.
Furthermore, while poisoned, most of their attention was on purging the toxin and blocking the spell or treasure attacks from Li Yan’s group.
Even in a normal response situation, they might not have sensed a soul-art attack, let alone in such a sudden ambush.
Fortunately, Li Yan and Mu Guyue showed mercy; thus, their souls didn’t dissipate directly. Instead, their souls convulsed, and they fell unconscious…
Li Yan’s palms directly covered the crowns of their heads, and then he unceremoniously began a forced soul-search.
Mu Guyue simply stood quietly to the side. Both of them were poisoned, and she didn’t want to touch them.
The two who were originally unconscious suddenly snapped their eyes open in agony beyond words.
They opened their mouths wide, but their magical power had long been sealed, and they were trapped within restrictions, unable to move in the slightest.
Li Yan had no pity during the soul-search; he simply forced his way through their memories.
Red bloodstains quickly flowed from the eyes of the two, and their lower bodies had already become incontinent…
After about half a cup of tea’s time, flames rose in Li Yan’s hands. The two under his palms were instantly reduced to ashes, leaving only six or seven storage rings, which were snatched into Li Yan’s hand.
Li Yan had ended their pain early. Naturally, he wasn’t being merciful; he simply didn’t want to leave any traces.
Before the soul-search, Li Yan had briefly detoxified them, thinking of putting them into “Mud Speck” later. He also feared that their deaths would alert the enemy.
But after the soul-search, he had learned their identities: they were Zhao Haiyang’s confidants, elders of two third-rate sects.
However, like himself, they were only here for rotation missions in Soul-Sever City, so they hadn’t left behind anything like a soul lamp.
Thus, Li Yan naturally killed them to settle the matter.
“What’s the situation?”
Seeing the two in the flames shrink with extreme speed, Mu Guyue’s voice only then drifted over.