Chapter 1749: Hidden Secrets

Li Yan didn’t bother crafting a elaborate, logical reason for how he escaped to convince Ming Qi. He simply told her that after she fled, everyone died. There was no need to hide things between the two of them. In their hearts, they both knew the other was hiding significant secrets.

If Ming Qi wanted to know what really happened last night, she would have to explain how she escaped the array. She had thought of several excuses on the way, but they would all require her to admit she possessed a powerful treasure. Furthermore, why had she fled here alone after escaping?

Today, meeting Li Yan, there were questions she had to ask. But after hearing his story, Ming Qi realized she didn’t need to hide things either. Li Yan likely guessed she had a way to break restrictions. Both of their goals were now out in the open. Since they had arrived, it was better to discuss the immediate future. Furthermore, Li Yan had the other people’s cargo, so by a unspoken agreement, they avoided discussing certain matters.

Sensing the nearby cultivators, they continued to speak.

“Senior Brother Li, how are your injuries? I have some decent pills…”

“I have already taken medicine. Once we are inside, I will meditate and heal; I should recover eventually…”

Ming Qi acted concerned, while Li Yan waved her off with a smile. He flew toward the approaching people, and Ming Qi followed…

Over two months later, Li Yan appeared at the entrance of Huangqi Valley, with a lithe figure by his side. By now, Li Yan looked much better. After handing in the cargo at Xianhe Manor, they had stayed there for seven days to heal. Though they were questioned about the ambush, the Manor only had a business relationship with the Valley. After a brief explanation, the Manor didn’t press further. However, the information provided allowed them to make some deductions, though Li Yan and Ming Qi wanted nothing to more to do with it.

Ming Qi didn’t leave immediately, staying until Li Yan’s injuries had improved before they headed back together. On the return journey, they moved slowly and often hid, having spotted suspicious cultivators. Thus, they had to dodge and take detours, eventually using several teleportation arrays to return to the sect safely.

They went straight to the Elite Mission Hall to hand in the mission. The process wasn’t fast; they were questioned thoroughly by the hall, and even an Elder appeared to interrogate them. Their stories were perfectly consistent, and the Valley had already received word of the ambush. They identified the attackers as an assassination organization hired by an unknown party, and they knew the organization was currently looking for the two of them. After several rounds of verification, they were allowed to leave.

When Li Yan and Ming Qi emerged, they remained calm, showing no sign of anything unusual.

“Senior Brother Li, aren’t you going to take another mission?” Ming Qi asked, surprised that Li Yan didn’t immediately seek more work.

“I can’t for now. I need to fully recover first!” Li Yan said simply. He didn’t ask her anything in return, and the two soon parted ways.

Back in his courtyard, Li Yan freshened up and slept for over a day. When he emerged, he was full of energy. He entered his cultivation room and activated the restrictions. He hadn’t been injured; it was all an act for Ming Qi. However, after several months of dodging Night Hawk assassins on the road, he was mentally fatigued and needed the rest. Through his time with Ming Qi, they had come to understand each other better—they both knew the other was deep and cunning. Such people were better as friends than enemies, so they didn’t pry into each other’s business.

Now, Li Yan needed to organize the treasures he had acquired. These weren’t just from this mission, but from others where he had killed his attackers. He never initiated such things, but if someone plotted against him, he was merciless. He was particularly interested in the items from the late-stage Void Refining expert.

Since joining the Five Immortals Sect and seeing the treasures his master produced, Li Yan’s interest in Void Refining level items was limited. However, the leader’s Crimson-Shadow Blade and that bizarre array were quite impressive. Combined with his other loot, he needed time to sort everything and sell what he didn’t need.

Li Yan sat cross-legged in the room. With a wave of his sleeve, a massive pile of items appeared before him—and this was only a portion of his haul… Half a day later, he waved his sleeve again, stowing the four sorted piles into different storage rings. He breathed a sigh of relief. Organizing was a chore. There were items from enemies and even from his fellow disciples like Yang Zun. The Mission Hall hadn’t asked for these; as long as he didn’t kill his peers directly, the sect looked the other way regarding loot taken during desperate struggles. Thus, Li Yan had to decide how to handle certain items to avoid trouble.

During his sorting, he found some pills and materials he liked, but there were no artifacts or talismans on the level of the Crimson-Shadow Blade. Even though the leader had more than one artifact, Li Yan’s standards were now very high after seeing items from Body Integration and Tribulation Transcendence experts. He only liked the blade because of its unique properties.

He had also gained a massive amount of top-grade spirit stones, let alone high-grade ones. He was now numb to anything below top-grade. He didn’t even want to count them; back when he was weak, he had to plan every use for a low-grade stone.

After putting everything away, with a thought, a dark-red blade as thin as a cicada’s wing appeared before him. He finally had time to study it. As for Shi Ying, once he was no longer useful, Li Yan had made him vanish. He wouldn’t keep an assassin around, unlike Feng Hongyue whom he used carefully. He wanted nothing to do with a dark organization.

The blade was originally only two inches long, exquisite and small. It was dark red, and when shrunk, it looked like a thin piece of jade with red shadows flowing within. Li Yan had seen its power—or part of it. Its flight speed couldn’t match his Phoenix Soaring in short distances, nor could it match Shaking the Universe. But those two techniques were for combat and were extremely taxing on his magical power.

At extreme speed, Li Yan couldn’t maintain Phoenix Soaring for long, as its speed depended on his cultivation. Every breakthrough increased its speed, but at the cost of more magical power. Furthermore, the faster he went, the greater the burden on his body, so he needed the Qiongqi Purgatory Art to match his speed to his physical strength.

As for Shaking the Universe, he could still only perform it seven times, though it was now faster and traveled further. But it drained his magical power rapidly, and he no longer had items like the Melding Bamboo Shoot for recovery!

This Crimson-Shadow Blade, under the middle-aged man’s control, wasn’t as fast as his techniques, but it was far faster than his own flight. Li Yan sent a thread of Divine Sense toward it. The blade emitted a low hum and quickly slid away, as if trying to dodge him. Li Yan’s expression didn’t change.

The residual mental seal on the blade hadn’t fully dissipated even two months after its owner’s death. ‘The leader’s mental strength was likely similar to mine, but for a seal to last this long… it means his mind was unique. He likely practiced a specialized auxiliary manual!’

Li Yan didn’t remove the seal immediately. The remnant was like a dying old man, its dodging merely an instinct. He wasn’t afraid of the Night Hawk organization finding him; the sect had already identified them. They were enemies now; would they dare attack him here? The Valley was looking to settle the score with them.

Li Yan brought out all the leader’s jade slips and three manuals. He had looked at them while faking his recovery at the Manor, but found nothing of interest. At the time, even with a protective array, he hadn’t dared to examine everything thoroughly.