Chapter 1672: Three Folds Make a Wave (Part Two)
‘Wait… the Secret Realm is gone?’
Li Yan immediately realized he was in significant trouble. He had been relatively confident in his ability to heal Bai Rou. After speaking with Senior Ping Tu, and given their relationship, he believed he could obtain a True Essence Pill if the senior still had any.
However, he never expected that he would be unable to communicate with the Secret Realm.
‘This is bad. Even if I were to ascend to the upper realm immediately, what could I possibly accomplish in a single year?’
His brow remained tightly knitted. Even if he successfully ascended to the North Pastoral Realm, finding Elder Hao and the others to help within such a short timeframe was a pipe dream.
He turned the problem over in his mind, realizing he was out of options in the lower realm. Nevertheless, he quickly devised a few alternative strategies.
‘There are three paths I can attempt: First, I can try to find Fellow Daoist Gu and have him ask the other Spirit Transformation cultivators if they possess any pills capable of healing the Sea of Consciousness. I can then use Gu Jiuqi to inquire about what price they would demand for an exchange. There is a chance this could work; the fortunes of Spirit Transformation old monsters are not to be underestimated.
Second, I may have to make another trip to the Return-Home Trade House to see if they possess such pills or methods.
Third, if the previous two options fail, I will have no choice but to disregard everything else. Within a year, I will travel to every continent I can reach and release my Spirit Transformation aura. Once the local masters emerge to find me, I will ask them directly about the cure…’
However, these plans had to be executed within a year. This meant he would have to keep Bai Rou by his side at all times. Furthermore, Li Yan noted with a sense of helplessness that whenever a situation exceeded his own capabilities, his plans almost always involved the Return-Home Trade House.
‘When I go there this time, I must try to avoid mentioning Su Hong and attempt to proceed through a standard transaction first…’ Li Yan mused.
But in his heart, he knew that if he didn’t use Su Hong’s identity, the lower-realm branches of the Return-Home Trade House might not be willing to employ special means to solve a problem that even a Spirit Transformation cultivator couldn’t handle.
‘Could something have happened to the Secret Realm? And what of Senior Ping Tu?’
The more he thought about it, the more worried he became. The Secret Realm housed 5th-rank demonic beasts, and Ping Tu had been recovering from injuries that were far from healed when Li Yan left. The original issues with the Secret Realm had begun because of the betrayal by human cultivators, which eventually led to the four great sects taking control. Now, the demonic beasts there had matured and effectively become the masters of the realm. If they discovered Ping Tu’s hiding place, given his righteous and unyielding nature, a massive battle was inevitable.
Li Yan didn’t dare to imagine the final outcome.
‘I must find an indirect way to ask about the Secret Realm. I have to get news of Senior Ping Tu!’
He felt that Ping Tu was both a teacher and a friend. The senior had provided him with the greatest assistance during his weakest moments, allowing him to grow. Without that help, he might never have survived the countless dangers that followed. He might have failed his Foundation Establishment or perished while seeking natal refining materials. He decided he would later obtain any recent news regarding the Secret Realm from within the sect.
Standing on the mountain peak, Li Yan finalized his plans and reviewed them once more. He had always been one to “act only after a plan is set.”
Soon, his Divine Sense swept over the entirety of Little Bamboo Peak, quickly locating Zhao Min. She was sitting with Li Zhaoyan by Bai Rou’s bedside, both of them silent. Gong Chenying had gone to Wei Chituo’s side, working with Li Wuyi to stabilize the Second Senior Brother’s Nascent Soul.
“Min’er, come to the platform on the back mountain!”
Inside the room, Li Yan’s voice suddenly echoed in Zhao Min’s mind. She stood up immediately. Without offering an explanation to Li Zhaoyan, she stepped out of the room.
When Zhao Min arrived at the platform, she found Li Yan standing at the edge of the cliff, gazing blankly at the rolling mountain ranges ahead. This was a scene that had appeared in Li Yan’s mind and dreams countless times.
Back when he used to stand here, he would often think of his parents, his third brother, and his fourth sister. His heart had been filled with longing and a desperate desire to go home. But those relatives had long since entered the cycle of reincarnation; even their bones had likely vanished by now. Recalling them now brought no hope of reunion, only the hollow ache of reality.
The silhouette of the green mountains remained the same, the platform beneath his feet was unchanged, and even the sound of the wind and the swaying shadows of the bamboo felt familiar. Yet everything felt like a distant yesterday, as if he had experienced a full reincarnation of a previous life.
For a time, Li Yan was lost in memory. The recollections of several centuries surged forward like a tide.
Zhao Min, her white robes fluttering in the wind like a fairy from a painting, quietly landed behind and to the side of Li Yan. Looking at the unmoving figure in green standing by the cliff, she instantly saw the profound nostalgia spreading from him.
She said nothing. Instead, with light steps, she slowly walked to Li Yan’s side and stood with him. It was just as it had been under the full moon once before—the moonlight like water, the autumn night cool—as they watched the scenery together.
After a long silence, Li Yan finally turned his face toward her. The ripples of emotion in his eyes had vanished, replaced by a smile.
“You said earlier that you had something to tell me in private.”
Li Yan didn’t ask about her life over the past years. He wanted to know why she had sent him a voice transmission, especially behind Gong Chenying’s back. He wanted to know what could make even Zhao Min so cautious as to require a private conversation.
“I wanted to tell you… I have a True Essence Pill. It should be enough to save Junior Sister Bai.”
But the very first sentence out of Zhao Min’s mouth caused the smile to freeze on Li Yan’s face. Even with his deep composure, he experienced a brief moment of daze. At this moment, he was extremely sensitive to the words “True Essence Pill.”
Just moments ago, he had been riddled with anxiety over this very pill, racking his brain to plan his next moves. Yet here was Zhao Min, seemingly reading his thoughts and speaking those three words directly to him.
It took several breaths before Li Yan spoke, his voice tinged with uncertainty. “You… you said you have a ‘True Essence Pill’? Are you certain?”
He wondered if she had mistaken it for something else. A True Essence Pill was an eighth-rank pill; how could she possibly have one? In the cultivation world of the mortal realm, no one should be able to obtain such a pill; most would never have even heard the name.
He immediately wondered if Zhao Min had encountered some immense immortal fortune during these centuries and accidentally obtained such a treasure from the Immortal Spirit Realm.
“There is no mistake. There were two pills in total. I gave one to Senior Sister Ying. The person who gifted these two pills was the same Yellow-robed Daoist who helped us escape the Sacred Demon Palace on the Forsaken Continent!”
While Li Yan was still pondering the reasons, Zhao Min’s next words hit him like a silent thunderclap. Fortunately, his nature was steady. After a brief pause, he pressed for details, though his voice sounded ethereal even to his own ears.
“Min’er… where did you meet that Yellow-robed Daoist?”
“It wasn’t that I met that senior; rather, he came to the Malevolent Spirit Sect himself. He didn’t seem to be passing through by chance; it appeared he was looking for you. But when he couldn’t find you, he sought me out in secret. At that time, it hadn’t been many years since you vanished from the Wind God Continent. Because the Yellow-robed Daoist had helped us at the Sacred Demon Palace, I naturally trusted him and told him everything about your situation on the Wind God Continent…”
Zhao Min then recounted everything that had happened back then. As she spoke, waves of shock crashed through Li Yan’s heart.
He finally understood why Zhao Min wanted to speak with him alone. This was the instruction of Martial Uncle Qian Chong; Zhao Min was simply following his orders. And the appearance of Martial Uncle Qian Chong was something that needed to be kept as quiet as possible. All traces of the Five Immortals Sect had to be erased.