Chapter 1686: Embarking on the Journey (Part Two)

Li Yan’s intuition had been correct. Gong Chenying’s perspective on the demon race was fundamentally different from Zhao Min’s, shaped by vastly different life experiences.

While Gong Chenying was not thrilled by the prospect of another woman by Li Yan’s side, she remembered everything he had done for her. From the perilous journey into the subterranean swamps to find her father, to sealing the wind beasts, avenging the Second Elder, and finally, that world-shaking final battle—he had sacrificed too much. She had no reason not to consider his feelings; her love for him was inherently inclusive.

Thus, during their breaks from cultivation over the past few days, she had spoken with Zhao Min. Every word was weighted in Li Yan’s favor, gradually leading Zhao Min to accept the reality of the situation. Mu Guyue had already borne Li Yan’s child; could he truly be expected to disown his own blood?

Seeing Zhao Min’s heart soften, Gong Chenying weighed the overall situation and finalized their decision.

When Li Yan heard their answer, a surge of joy welled up in his heart. Gong Chenying’s words meant they had formally acknowledged Mu Sha. Although they still couldn’t quite reconcile with Mu Guyue herself, this was the best possible start. For now, it was for the best that the two sides did not meet face-to-face.

What Li Yan wanted most was for them to know the truth. He refused to hide or deceive them, knowing such secrets would eventually lead to an unimaginable catastrophe. He also shared Mu Guyue’s fear that their children might one day turn against each other in ignorance. Now that they knew of each other’s existence and names, the chance of such a tragic mistake was greatly diminished.

“This is enough. Mu Guyue has no desire to enter a human sect either,” Li Yan spoke softly.

When he stepped out of the room, he felt a lightness he hadn’t known in years. Though the resolution regarding Mu Guyue wasn’t perfect, it was the best outcome he could hope for. He had remained honest with both sides, and they had both shown a degree of tolerance.

With this matter settled, Li Yan knew he had to consult his master, Dong Fuyi, to find a way to manage the logistics.

Half a month later, the group quietly departed the Malevolent Spirit Sect. During that fortnight, Zhao Min had handled the affairs of the Wood-Flow Gate for Bai Rou. Li Yan had provided Yu Niang with a grand formation capable of withstanding the attacks of Nascent Soul cultivators—a level of protection usually reserved for the top-tier sects of the Desolate Moon Continent.

Li Yan also took a moment to quietly visit the village at Daqing Mountain.

The outcome was as he had expected, and it was precisely why he had hesitated to return after leaving Military Advisor Valley. Yet, he couldn’t sever that final thread of attachment. Centuries of mortal change had transformed the village into something unrecognizable. The graves of his parents and his third brother had not vanished, but they were dilapidated and overgrown, long stripped of their former dignity.

In the village, many of his descendants had moved away. How many still remembered the stories of their ancestors? Living in the present was the only reality they knew.

After offering his respects, Li Yan felt a hollow sense of loss. He completely abandoned the thought of searching for a spirit root among his kin. Everything was now sealed within his memories. Just as he had come to this mortal realm, he was now destined to leave.

For this ascension, in addition to Bai Rou and Li Zhaoyan being placed within the Earthen Patch, the group was joined by Zi Kun. During the half-month preparation, Li Yan had also dissolved the blood contract with Zi Kun, a gesture that left the demonic beast with complex emotions.

Li Yan didn’t dwell on it. Zi Kun and Qianji had done more than enough over the years. He had intended to free them back on the Wind God Continent; he was a man who stood by his word.

Their departure was silent. Only Li Wuyi and Li Yuyin came to see them off. Everyone else had already visited privately after receiving word from Wei Zhongran.

Li Yuyin’s injuries had not yet healed. Her pale, charming face was devoid of its usual flirtatiousness, replaced by a deep sense of reluctance and gloom. She looked at Wei Zhongran, but he said nothing more. With a smile, he simply waved to the two of them and ascended into the air.

Her expression grew even more despondent. But as the group rose into the sky, her body suddenly trembled. Wei Zhongran’s gentle voice had echoed in her mind.

“Your injuries are not yet healed, and looking after Bai Rou and Zhaoyan during the passage will already be incredibly difficult. Watch over Wuyi and the others for a while. We will surely meet again at the upper-realm sect!”

The Malevolent Spirit Sect was a massive organization that required powerful guardians. Li Yuyin had already served her time, but many cultivators, like Mo Qing, chose to remain as veteran Nascent Souls to guide the new generation. Ascension was a staggered process to ensure the sect’s inheritance remained unbroken.

In truth, Li Yuyin had told Wei Zhongran she wanted to ascend with him and Mo Qing. However, seeing his hesitation, she had decided in a fit of pique to stay behind. Now, burdened by heavy injuries, she had no choice but to stay and recover.

Thus, she unwittingly missed this golden opportunity. Whether in matters of immortal fate or romantic ties, life was full of unpredictable shifts; perfection was a rare thing.

Four months later, within a turbulent spatial rift, Li Yan and the others followed Dong Fuyi, who was currently disguised as a middle-aged cultivator. The astral winds around them were like jagged blades, howling in a chaotic dance.

Dong Fuyi spoke softly as they flew. “We are almost there. During the passage, Li Yan and I will be responsible for the safety of the other two. The rest will depend on yourselves!”

As he spoke, he veered toward a strange patch of shadows. Strange flora grew there, clinging to the mountainside of a floating range. They looked like massive, low-lying mushrooms, their caps covered in red spots that resembled a multitude of giant eyes.

Gory and crimson, they dotted the landscape. A single glance was enough to make one’s skin crawl with intense discomfort, especially for Zhao Min and Gong Chenying.

Following behind Li Yan, Zhao Min’s elegant brows furrowed. Though she raised many terrifying insects, the eye-like spots on these plants seemed to be staring directly at her, triggering an instinctive urge to flee.

Gong Chenying strengthened her spiritual light shield. The group didn’t slow down, following Dong Fuyi as they landed amidst the mushrooms.

Dong Fuyi began to navigate the crimson-spotted field, searching. Li Yan and the others remained silent and alert, their various protective shields shimmering as their divine senses swept the area.

After a few minutes, Dong Fuyi stopped before a mushroom the height of a man. It grew upon a jutting rock.

“This should be the spot. I will investigate first, then you all check the conditions. If there are no problems, we shall enter this ascension node.”

He pointed toward the shadow beneath the rock. There, a faint spatial distortion flickered occasionally, nearly invisible. Had Dong Fuyi not led them here, it would have been impossible to find. The group immediately focused their senses on it.

“There is a powerful suction force… the overall energy flow is pulling upward. It is indeed an ascension node!” Mo Qing looked up in surprise and joy. He hadn’t expected the senior to find a node so smoothly.

“The energy flow isn’t chaotic. There has been little change over the last half hour; it’s relatively stable. We can observe it for another hour!” Wei Zhongran withdrew his sense, a smile touching his face. He found the channel to be quite stable, which was excellent news. However, being a meticulous man, he wanted to be certain.

Everyone agreed, concentrating on their investigation. When they glanced at Dong Fuyi, he looked as though he already knew every detail. He was looking around lazily, seemingly indifferent to their caution.

To Wei Zhongran and the others, his attitude suggested he found them overly careful, but they didn’t care what he thought. Self-verification was the only way to be sure.

Time passed. Most of their attention was buried deep within the node’s channel. Standing at the rear, Dong Fuyi suddenly flicked his sleeve. An invisible shadow instantly enveloped the area ahead.

Everyone except Li Yan remained entirely unaware. No matter how strong they were, they were no match for an old monster who had lived for untold years, especially when he was deliberately plotting.

Soon, two figures flew out from the red-spotted mushrooms and into the astral winds.

Dong Fuyi looked at Li Yan beside him and spoke with a hint of helplessness. “Tell me the truth, brat. Aside from those two among the demons on the Forsaken Continent, you don’t have any other wives or children on other continents, do you?”

Half a month ago, when Li Yan found Dong Fuyi, he had confessed that he had another partner and a son on the Forsaken Continent. He wanted to know if his master could help him manage the ascension so that the women wouldn’t meet, yet everyone could still be brought to the Immortal Spirit Realm.

If it were impossible, he would have had to ask his master to send Zhao Min and the others to the upper-realm Malevolent Spirit Sect first, while he personally escorted Mu Guyue to the Jiyou Realm. That involved crossing different major realms, something Li Yan couldn’t achieve alone.

He had always been a solitary fighter, but now that he had found his master, he felt it was time for Dong Fuyi to take up some responsibility. Did his master expect him to find his own way to the Immortal Spirit Realm and then spend a mountain of spirit stones on inter-realm transfers?

When Dong Fuyi heard the story, his face had been a mask of shock. His disciple had another partner? And on the Forsaken Continent? And a Black Demon at that?

It was beyond his wildest imagination. Black Demons were a bloodthirsty, heartless race that even slaughtered their own kin, the White Demons. How had Li Yan managed to charm one?

This changed everything. His original plan was to simply deliver the group to the Cangxuan Realm and drop them at the Malevolent Spirit Sect. Now, they had to detour to the Forsaken Continent, and even after reaching the Immortal Spirit Realm, they had to make a trip to the Jiyou Realm!

Though Dong Fuyi had a lady of his own in his heart, he had never been as “prolific” as his disciple. Looking at Li Yan’s troubled face, Dong Fuyi felt a massive headache coming on. He had thought that finding this disciple would finally bring him peace of mind. He had been so satisfied with Li Yan’s talent and temperament, noting he wasn’t inferior to Pei Buchong.

But one surprise followed another. He was moving from one shock to the next.

After some thought, he provided a solution. Ascension and descent were not simple tasks; even he had to be careful. He preferred to do everything in one go rather than making multiple trips. If everyone was ascending together, the problem of them meeting had to be solved.

Wei Zhongran and the others would never agree to enter a storage space. They trusted Dong Fuyi, but they were still independent cultivators. Thus, Dong Fuyi had to take action personally, knocking Wei Zhongran and the others unconscious before they went to find Mu Guyue.

Once Li Yan found the mother and son, they would return to this node, and Dong Fuyi would knock them unconscious as well. Then, under his protection, they would fly to the Cangxuan Realm. He would release Wei Zhongran and the others first and escort them to the Malevolent Spirit Sect.

Once Li Yan settled Zhao Min and the rest, he would use the pretext of seeking a cure for Bai Rou to leave the sect. Then, they would release Mu Guyue and her son and head for the Jiyou Realm to find the Black Demon tribe. After that, he and Li Yan would return to the Cangxuan Realm and the Five Immortals Sect to find a way to heal Bai Rou.

As for Zi Kun, he would have to stay at the Malevolent Spirit Sect for a while. Once Bai Rou was healed, Li Yan would find an opportunity to take him to the Sky-Demon Prairie in the North Pastoral Realm.

It was a tedious, step-by-step process. Dong Fuyi would have to craft a false memory of the ascension for them, making them believe they had experienced the passage themselves.

He wasn’t going to let Li Yan off easy, though. He explicitly stated that Li Yan would have to modify the memories of his own wives, son, and kin. Dong Fuyi would only handle the coordination of the false scenes and the modification of Mo Qing’s memory.

He would teach Li Yan a memory-altering technique with a sealing effect—a high-level secret art of the Gui Water Immortal Sect. With Li Yan’s current cultivation and the laws of the Earthen Patch, no one would be able to detect the anomaly unless they reached the Body Integration realm.

Dong Fuyi didn’t want a situation where one of Li Yan’s wives reached the Body Integration or Tribulation Transcendence realm, discovered the tampering, and came looking for his head. He wasn’t going to take the blame for this.

As for Li Zhaoyan, it was unnecessary; it was already established that she and Bai Rou were hiding in a storage space.

Even with Li Yan doing some of the work, Dong Fuyi felt a headache at the thought of the upcoming travel. To act as a servant and help Li Yan cross major realms… Crossing realms in the Immortal Spirit Realm was no easy feat. The distances were staggering, and there were many Body Integration powerhouses along the way.

‘Did I recruit a disciple or a master?’ Dong Fuyi thought as they flew.

“Master, it’s only because of this one extra partner and son that my family almost turned into enemies. There is no one else!” Li Yan answered his master’s unspoken question.

Li Yan didn’t use the teleportation pool at the Qingshan Gorge. There were still many unsolved mysteries there, and it involved the Soul-Prison Tribe. It was better to keep that secret hidden if possible. They didn’t mind the extra time. When Zhao Min and the others woke up, it would just feel like a “difficult” ascension process. Li Zhaoyan, being in the storage space, would have a skewed sense of time, which was easily explained.