Chapter 1696: Taking Root in the Sect (Part Three)

Zi Kun was content to remain within his own bamboo courtyard, for it allowed him to focus entirely on his cultivation. After Li Yan dissolved their blood contract, he had spoken of a place called the Sky-Demon Prairie, where the Purple God Dragon Elephant tribe was said to dwell—a lineage that likely ascended from the lower realms just as Zi Kun had. The news had left Zi Kun’s spirit stirred for a long time.

He had lived in profound loneliness for far too long. Every time he saw Qianji amidst his swarm of kin, Zi Kun would stare blankly, wondering where his own people were. Was he truly the last Purple God Dragon Elephant in existence?

However, the location Li Yan described was in the North Pastoral Realm. With Li Yan’s current cultivation, he could not yet escort Zi Kun there; he could barely guarantee his own survival in such a journey, let alone look after another. Even if they managed to reach the prairie, how would a lone man and beast penetrate the dangerous heart of that territory? Such a feat required overwhelming power.

During their recent ascension, had it not been for the protection of that Void Refinement senior, they would have been forced to crawl through the shadows, likely meeting their ends at the hands of opportunistic predators. Li Yan had made it clear that he would take Bai Rou to search for celestial herbs, and Zi Kun saw this interval as his chance to cultivate with desperate intensity. Li Yan respected their choices and did not force them to follow him.

Within half a day, they visited each person’s assigned courtyard. When Wei Zhongran saw them off, he mentioned he had personal matters to attend to after settling in, so he would not be visiting their residences immediately. Their identity tokens remained linked, allowing them to communicate at will.

Li Yan and the others understood perfectly. Ancestor Da Cen was here, and Wei Zhongran undoubtedly had private matters to discuss with his master.

Finally, when the group arrived at Li Yan’s courtyard, they gazed at the spiritual energy drifting through the air like gossamer clouds. Looking back at the Nascent Soul area they had just left, they could only shake their heads in realization.

The courtyards of Spirit Transformation cultivators were not merely more elegant; they were vastly more expansive. Each residence was surrounded by a literal sea of emerald bamboo, separated from the nearest neighbor by at least ten miles. While this might seem like a short distance to a cultivator, one had to remember this was the Immortal Spirit Realm. Here, Spirit Transformation cultivators were merely at the threshold of the “middle-tier” ranks, no longer part of the sect’s high-level leadership. For their rank, such an environment was considered exceptional.

In the end, Zhao Min and Gong Chenying chose to stay with Li Yan, leaving their assigned Nascent Soul residences vacant for the time being. Before the ascension, they had harbored thoughts of accompanying Li Yan to find the herb for Bai Rou. But after seeing that a Nascent Soul cultivator in this realm was effectively equivalent to a Foundation Establishment disciple in the lower realm, they realized that going out now would only make them a burden to him.

Thus, they abandoned the idea and stayed in Li Yan’s courtyard without ceremony. They would cultivate while waiting for his return. They refused to be left behind by him; they still yearned to roam the world by his side as a pair of immortal companions, just as they had in the lower realm. To achieve that, they needed the best possible cultivation conditions.

Li Zhaoyan and Zi Kun stayed for only half an hour before departing to begin their own seclusion. They no longer wished to waste a single moment. Li Zhaoyan, in particular, felt a profound regret for the years she had squandered in her youth.

Once everyone was settled, Li Yan found he could not leave the Malevolent Spirit Sect immediately. Da Cen had instructed him to await a summons. After reporting the events of the lower realm, it was inevitable that the higher-ups would want to question him personally, as he and the Chimera Emissary were the ones most familiar with the details.

Li Yan welcomed this. He wanted the Malevolent Spirit Sect to take the matter seriously rather than letting it fade into obscurity. The fact that an enemy had dared to strike at their gates was a direct provocation. In any sect, such an insult to their dignity was a bottom-line offense that could not be tolerated.

As for whether the investigation would eventually lead back to him, it was a possibility he had already planned for. He decided that if his Limb-Severing Poison Body could no longer serve as a shield, he would not hesitate to reveal his nature as a soul cultivator. A hybrid of the poison body and soul arts—as long as it wasn’t linked to the Five Immortals Sect—could be explained as another serendipitous immortal fortune.

He believed that even the Body Integration old monsters of the Malevolent Spirit Sect did not understand the soul as deeply as the Soul-Prison Tribe did. Anything he chose to reveal would likely be judged based on their own limited experience. He had consulted Dong Fuyi multiple times; unless a soul-search was performed, the Five Immortals Sect’s presence could not be detected through magical power alone so long as he didn’t manifest the Five Elements Laws.

No sect would lightly perform a soul-search on its own prized disciples. As long as he could provide a plausible reason for a Miscellaneous Spirit Root reaching Spirit Transformation, they would not resort to extreme measures. Risk was inevitable, but no one achieved greatness without it. Furthermore, Li Yan knew that by the time he returned to the sect again, he would certainly no longer be a mere Spirit Transformation cultivator. It would be difficult for others to discern whether his breakthrough came through dharma, body, or soul. Only the strong possessed a value that others dared not question.

That evening, Li Yan enjoyed the long-lost pleasures of the immortal path. His two wives, however, remained deeply conservative and refused to share a bed simultaneously. In the end, amidst many blushes, only Zhao Min remained. Her porcelain-white face was flushed with a moving shyness, and the night was filled with the soft, harmonious melodies of long-awaited affection.

The following day, Zhao Min refused to leave the room for the entire day, eventually pushing Li Yan out as evening approached. As Li Yan stood before Gong Chenying’s door, Zhao Min’s voice—sounding as crisp and sweet as ice clinking in a cup—echoed in his mind.

“Do not come back here for the next few days. Spend your time with Senior Sister Ying!”

With that, Li Yan felt the restrictions on Zhao Min’s room activate. He understood her heart, yet he couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. For cultivators at his level, conceiving a child was no simple matter.

On the third day, Li Yan received a voice transmission from Da Cen. He and Wei Zhongran were led to Old Gentleman Peak. There, as expected, they found Mo Qing and his master, along with six other Void Refinement cultivators. No Body Integration experts appeared.

Li Yan later learned that these seven Void Refinement cultivators were part of the sect’s Council of Elders, representing the five peaks, with Old Gentleman Peak contributing two additional elders from the Hall of Discipline. Matters that could be handled by Void Refinement elders were never used to disturb Body Integration powerhouses; otherwise, what use would the disciples be?

On the way, Da Cen informed them that Gu Jiuqi’s main body had been in deep seclusion for a long time. Unless a catastrophe occurred in the lower realm, he would not emerge.

Once at Old Gentleman Peak, the elders questioned the three of them meticulously. Li Yan bore the brunt of the interrogation. They asked for detailed descriptions of the enemies’ techniques and examined every item recovered from their bodies. Li Yan noted their thoroughness; they even asked about the quantity and rank of the spirit stones found on the corpses.

They took several spirit stones that Wei Zhongran had kept. Li Yan hadn’t thought to keep them in the lower realm, but Wei Zhongran had. This was the wisdom of an “old fox”; Wei Zhongran had likely foreseen that such mundane details could be used to trace an enemy’s identity.

Finally, the elders questioned them about the two mysterious Spirit Transformation cultivators who appeared at the end. Only Mo Qing and Wei Zhongran could speak on this, as Li Yan had not yet arrived at that point in the battle. The two described the scene of the sect being sealed and their personal sensations under that overwhelming gravity technique.

When the business was concluded, Da Cen asked about Bai Rou on the way back, as Wei Zhongran had already briefed him. Da Cen had been shocked to learn that they had smuggled another person through the ascension passage besides Li Zhaoyan. He called them a band of desperate lunatics and noted they were lucky to be alive.

However, after hearing the details, Da Cen acknowledged that the Nascent Soul disciple from the Four Directions Peak was indeed heroic and deserving of respect. It was only natural that Li Yan and the others would risk everything for her.

Wei Zhongran had sought Da Cen out specifically because the Malevolent Spirit Sect was a powerhouse in its own right, and he didn’t want to miss any chance of finding a cure. This was a task only he could perform. When Li Yan released Bai Rou, Da Cen examined her but, like Li Yan, found himself without a solution.

Da Cen then left to find another specialist. When he returned, he brought a youth in yellow robes. Li Yan could sense the man was a Late-stage Void Refinement powerhouse. It turned out he was the preeminent medical expert beneath the Body Integration realm on Old Gentleman Peak, brought in through Da Cen’s personal connections.

It was said that if this man could not cure someone, the Body Integration experts of the sect would likely be equally helpless. Li Yan was overjoyed. Though Dong Fuyi was powerful, everyone had their specialties, and the methods of Old Gentleman Peak were known to be profound and mysterious.

The youth in yellow spoke little. After a brief inquiry into the cause of the injury, he examined Bai Rou’s condition with clinical efficiency. Ultimately, however, he reached the same conclusion: Bai Rou’s Sea of Consciousness was stable, but it was permeated by a foreign binding force. He confirmed that even if a Body Integration expert struck, they would likely shatter her mind in the process of trying to remove it. He possessed no pill that could resolve such a delicate deadlock.

However, the medical expert was indeed brilliant. After some thought, he too mentioned the Hazy Moon Purity herb. He also suggested that the soul-core of a certain demonic beast might be effective. When Li Yan heard the name of the beast, he froze in place.

The man had suggested the Dream-Returning Ant.