Chapter 1704: Settlement

“You can also successfully drive this technique after utilizing the Five Elements Return to Primordial Genesis. However, you must be extremely careful when practicing this technique. Just one slip-up and your own lifespan will be significantly reduced. And there is a forty percent chance of such an outcome. After all, you are not a true disciple of the Yi Wood Immortal Sect; your wood-attribute foundation is much weaker. You must understand it thoroughly before you can practice it. These are all the drawbacks of practicing this technique. However, I think this technique is quite valuable. Otherwise, I could also give you the refining material of a rank six demonic beast—the material from a water-attribute beast—which should be useful to you in the future. Ultimately, whether you want to practice this technique is something you must consider carefully. But you can only choose one of the two!”

Fairy Ning Ke spoke neither fast nor slow, making one feel that the surroundings were full of spiritual resonance. As she spoke, a piece of something looking like fur suddenly appeared in her other hand. There were strands of fine hair on the fur, pink in color, swaying as if they were the softest water grass in the world, even though there was no wind. As those fine hairs swayed, Li Yan’s expression froze. At this moment, he sensed the most familiar water-attribute laws. As those hairs swayed, wonderful changes were constantly occurring. Li Yan felt that even if he didn’t use this fur to refine a magical treasure, just gaining some enlightenment from the swaying of the hairs would strengthen his understanding of water-attribute laws. He suppressed the urge to take it immediately and forced his gaze away. He first glanced at Dong Fuyi, but the other man only smiled and did not speak. It was best to choose based on one’s own feelings in such matters; Dong Fuyi didn’t want to give Li Yan any advice, as it was his own opportunity.

“I choose the technique!”

Li Yan forced himself to stop looking at the fur. After lowering his head and thinking for a moment, he still chose the technique. After calming down, he realized that the fact that she had produced the technique first was a clear indication of one thing: in Fairy Ning Ke’s mind, the technique was what she wanted Li Yan to choose. Li Yan was very shrewd. Such an order meant she wasn’t reluctant to give up the fur. If she were, she could have just not shown it and replaced it with another treasure. Li Yan now knew that techniques like “The Five Elements Return to Primordial Genesis” were shared within the Five Immortals Sect; people like Pei Buchong all knew them. This allowed the five sects to borrow and learn many techniques from each other. Seeing this, Fairy Ning Ke said no more and directly pushed the jade slip forward. The jade slip flew toward Li Yan. Li Yan first performed a grand bow of thanks before putting away the jade slip.

“Ling Yao, Ziming, you two take Li Yan out. Ling Yao, arrange a cave residence for Li Yan. we still have some things to discuss!”

Seeing Li Yan take the jade slip, Shi Ligui immediately said to Ling Yao by his side.

…

When Li Yan followed the two out, Ling Yao’s large eyes flickered. She slowed her pace and waited for Li Yan to walk side-by-side with them. A brilliant smile appeared on her face.

“Junior Brother, now that you’re here, I won’t have to spend all my time in bitter cultivation anymore. We can spar with each other when we have the chance!”

Li Yan was originally sorting through the information he had just received. Although the conversation between his two Martial Uncles and his master was brief, it was mostly to let Dong Fuyi understand the changes in the sect over the years. However, the information contained was substantial and at a level Li Yan hadn’t been able to touch before. Suddenly hearing the crisp voice, he turned his head and saw Ling Yao’s smiling face. After a brief stun, he immediately spoke with a bitter smile.

“Senior Sister, what kind of meager skills do I have to spar with you? It would be more accurate to say Senior Sister should give me guidance!”

Although Li Yan didn’t know when she had entered the sect, from his Second Martial Uncle’s tone, Ling Yao must have arrived before the Eldest Martial Uncle ascended. So, she should be earlier than him. She had cultivated in the upper realm, and although she had only reached the initial-stage of Void Refining, just looking at her spirited appearance, one could guess that her talent was also quite good. Although he could also charge toward the Void Refining stage, his circumstances were different. He had been moving forward in the midst of slaughter all the way. And even if the Five Immortals Sect’s techniques were heaven-defying, advancing wasn’t as simple as drinking water; the fluctuations would vary from person to person.

“Junior Brother, don’t give me that! I sparred with Senior Brother Buchong, and he was only at the Spirit Transformation stage, yet he beat me so badly I couldn’t fight back. You cultivators who flew up from the lower realm are really formidable in your methods and your grasp of combat opportunities!”

Hearing this, Ling Yao curled her lip. The young man named “Ziming” also watched the two with a smile, not interjecting. Ling Yao was right; that Pei Buchong was incredibly fierce. Among these Void Refining cultivators, even those in the late-stage found it hard to suppress him. This Senior Sister Ling had insisted on sparring with him, but Pei Buchong had kept refusing. Finally, when he had no choice, he had fought. But even though many people could see Pei Buchong had gone easy on her, Ling Yao was simply no match. So, more of them had sparred with Pei Buchong. Finally, everyone was forced to recognize one fact: cultivators from the lower realm were truly terrifying. Previously, they had only heard of the ferocity of lower realm cultivators while traveling outside. They had fought some, but it might have been due to technique suppression, so they had still won. After seeing Pei Buchong fight, they had a different understanding. Seeing Li Yan return to the sect today—the second person they knew from the lower realm in their generation—they had already discussed it via voice transmission. They all wanted to test Li Yan again to see if lower realm cultivators were indeed more powerful given the same level of technique.

Li Yan immediately shook his head repeatedly.

“How could I possibly be compared to Senior Brother Buchong? When he was in the Spirit Transformation stage, I didn’t even know which cycle of reincarnation I was in. Senior Sister, please don’t tease me!”

“Junior Brother, in our entire Kui Water branch of this generation, there’s only the two of us. It shouldn’t be a problem to occasionally discuss the Dao, right?”

Ling Yao’s eyes rolled slightly.

Li Yan couldn’t refuse again, but he made up his mind never to fight easily. He immediately changed the subject.

“Senior Sister Ling, were you and Martial Uncle Shi the only ones in the sect before we returned?”

Li Yan actually already knew the answer. But looking at the vast area around them, without any cultivators flying through the air, he felt as if he were in a ruin rather than a sect. The total number of pavilions on the mountains was not very large, and if only a few people were here, the area was just too massive—empty, even. He felt it would be a bit chilling in the dead of night. So he asked.

“Of course. In our sect, even a handyman or an outer sect disciple doesn’t exist. So when you choose a cave residence in the back later, you can basically choose whatever you want. As long as you feel it’s suitable.”

Ling Yao knew he didn’t want to continue that topic. He was just like Senior Brother Buchong, but eventually, hadn’t Senior Brother Buchong fought with them anyway?

Li Yan felt that earlier, when he could see a dozen or so people in the hall, the presence of various auras gave him a decent feeling. But hearing Ling Yao’s words and looking at the surroundings again, he could only feel his master was right—the Five Immortals Sect was too weak in numbers. It wasn’t a lack of strength, but a silence as far as the eye could see! However, Li Yan soon had no time to think about this. Ling Yao began to ask about the situation in the lower realm, looking very interested. She even kept asking about matters in the Immortal Spirit Realm. Shi Ligui felt that Ling Yao’s cultivation was still insufficient, so even if he agreed to let her go out, it would only be in the nearby areas or occasionally accompanying him on business. Therefore, Ling Yao’s knowledge of the outside world was limited, much of it still stuck in her understanding before entering the sect.

This made Li Yan think of a sentence Dong Fuyi’s wisp of Divine Sense had said when they first met.

“…If a sect disciple wants to be outside for a long time, they must reach at least the Body Integration stage!”

Another meaning of this sentence was that Five Immortals Sect disciples might only be allowed out once they reached the Void Refining stage, but this wasn’t the kind of being out year after year. However, Li Yan wasn’t entirely sure how strictly this rule was enforced for others. But it didn’t apply to him or Pei Buchong. Even Pei Buchong had only left the secret realm after his cultivation was successful. Afterward, he too had traveled through wind and blood, becoming accustomed to great storms. Li Yan himself was even more “wild-grown,” having crossed into another continent in the Foundation Establishment stage and ventured alone in the Immortal Spirit Realm early on. He was long accustomed to so-called dangers. So Li Yan guessed: was the experience of the two of them among the top-tier of these six or seven people today? This wasn’t arrogance; it was likely the truth. But since she asked, Li Yan picked some things to tell her, which indeed made Ling Yao’s eyes sparkle. The young man named Ziming said nothing along the way, just following the two of them, which Li Yan found very strange. He didn’t understand why the man was still following him, given that he wasn’t from the Kui Water Immortal Sect and they had already met and exchanged items. But soon, Li Yan seemed to realize something.

‘Are he and Senior Sister Ling a Dao companion couple? Or at least, there’s some affection between them…’

However, Li Yan soon put this thought behind him; he didn’t want to spend too much effort on this matter. And he soon had a good impression of this senior sister. She felt to him like a combination of Li Changting and Miao Wangqing—mischievous but also a bit sharp.

About an hour later, Li Yan had chosen a cave residence. This cave was located halfway up a mountain peak, already quite far from the others. The cave residences of the Kui Water Immortal Sect were on a single peak, with ten cave residences opened from the mountainside to the summit. Dong Fuyi and the others had their caves at the summit. Ling Yao had also chosen one there. But Li Yan had chosen one halfway up. This surprised both Ling Yao and the young man. The environment at the summit was naturally the best, and Ling Yao had made that clear. The young man only had a look of surprise in his eyes, but Ling Yao asked the reason and suggested the summit was better. Li Yan smiled and refused, without giving a reason. These two likely couldn’t understand how hard it was to change a deeply rooted habit. Especially Li Yan’s behavior of always wanting to hide and conceal his secrets, which had long been ingrained in his blood and marrow. Even though he had reached the Five Immortals Sect and no longer needed to hide his sect’s techniques, he still wasn’t used to being in close proximity with Dong Fuyi and the others. So he habitually chose a relatively remote place, which made him feel more natural. This peak was also grand; from the mountainside to the summit, a mortal might not reach it in years. It rose high into the clouds, deep beyond measure. After touring the new cave residence, Li Yan was quite satisfied. This was a place where Body Integration and Grand Ascension cultivators would appear for cultivation—what could he possibly complain about? After Li Yan had seen the cave residence, he intended to take out some good wine to chat with the two, as they had been busy for a while. But the young man named Ziming spoke up at this moment, though he spoke to Ling Yao.