Chapter 1757: Eerie Movements

Li Yan felt his vision blur. The yellow light vanished, and the air instantly became fresh and crisp. He found himself standing outside a crimson courtyard wall. The wall was ten fathoms high, stretching out to both sides until it was obscured by dense vegetation.

Li Yan looked back. The Inheritance Ancient Hall was mostly hidden behind the crimson wall, though he could see parts of the massive palace rising into the dark, heavy clouds. Beneath his feet was a path paved with pebbles, winding forward between a dark green bamboo forest.

The sky remained gray and oppressive, like the precursor to a mountain storm. The path ended abruptly at the courtyard wall. After a brief scan, Li Yan set off, soon disappearing into the dark bamboo.

The wind howled through the forest, making the bamboo rustle loudly and the branches sway violently. The sky grew even darker, as if a downpour were imminent. Watching the bamboo leaves swirl in the gale and listening to the eerie whistling of the wind, Li Yan chose not to fly. Instead, he followed the pebble path on foot.

His Divine Sense was already spreading out. Other disciples had been teleported out before him, yet he saw no one. The wind whipped the slanted bamboo branches toward him as if trying to drown him in greenery, making his green robes snap loudly.

Li Yan sensed subtle ripples from within the bamboo—vines and thickets that had developed a primitive sentience. Sensing his aura, they quickly went dormant. This confirmed his suspicion that the area had been cleared of major threats; for him, there was little danger.

After confirming the safety of the perimeter, he took to the air.

The space outside the crimson wall was vast. On his first day, he traversed a snowy plain, discovering three cultivation caves within massive ice fissures. However, when he entered them, the term “bare walls” would have been a generous description. Not only were there no treasures, but some of the walls had been dug through, leaving nothing but rubble.

Ten days later, Li Yan appeared in a limitless field of spirit plants. It was mostly overgrown with weeds, which flourished due to the rich soil and spiritual energy. From the distribution and height of the weeds, he could still make out the original shapes of the spirit fields. Surprisingly, some spirit plants were still growing there.

However, all he found were common plants he already recognized, most of which were only a few decades old. This suggested that even rare plants of low maturity had been scavenged long ago. Li Yan searched the area meticulously for six days, but found no trace of the Moon-Gazing Pure Immortal Grass. He was forced to fly toward another region.

During these two weeks, he encountered three other cultivators: two in the Nascent Soul stage and one in the Void Refining stage. Upon spotting each other from a distance, both sides chose not to approach and quickly departed.

Although the woman in white had forbidden killing for treasures, any disciple who dared to wander outside the hall possessed a certain level of confidence. The two Nascent Soul disciples, for instance, appeared to be experts in cooperative combat; an ordinary Spirit Transformation cultivator might not find them easy to take down. Since their time was limited, they generally wouldn’t attack others unless they had found a truly precious treasure.

When Li Yan encountered the Void Refining cultivator, he was the one who steered clear. The man saw that Li Yan was only a Spirit Transformation disciple, but perhaps because no anomalies had occurred nearby, he simply watched Li Yan fly away without giving chase.

Four days later, Li Yan was skimming low over the ground. He had reached a hilly region covered in black, thorn-like shrubs, making it seem impossible to find a place to land.

‘The spirit fields I found covered thousands of acres; they must have been the primary cultivation area for this Daoist sect. Yet after six days of searching and re-searching, I couldn’t find a single valuable plant, let alone the Moon-Gazing Pure Immortal Grass.’

‘For the past few days, I haven’t even seen a single spirit plant. Is it possible that the only value left in this inheritance lies within the hall? Has everywhere else truly been exhausted? Or is it as I suspected—that only a portion of the area is open, and rare plants like the Moon-Gazing Pure Immortal Grass are hidden in the core zones…’

Li Yan pondered as he flew, but he wasn’t overly discouraged. Such a rare herb wouldn’t be easy to find. Back in the hall, the Elder’s description of the outside had been clear enough, but many first-time visitors felt the need to see it for themselves. It was a natural human impulse—until you saw it with your own eyes, you would always hold onto a glimmer of hope. Li Yan certainly wasn’t going to just sit in the palace.

The area outside the hall had not been fully explored, so he had to continue his search.

Suddenly, Li Yan’s expression shifted slightly, and he stopped in his tracks. He had already been a faint blur, and the moment he stopped, he vanished completely from the spot.

A short while later, several equally illusory figures skimmed over the ground. These figures weren’t traveling very fast, occasionally pausing to observe their surroundings, yet no one made a sound. When Li Yan had stopped earlier, they had performed the same action, but soon they continued in his direction.

They flew directly over the spot where Li Yan had vanished, their Divine Senses sweeping forward. They had no idea that an aura they couldn’t detect was now quietly following them.

That person was, of course, Li Yan. When he had first detected an unusual aura, he only gave it a passing thought. Over the past few days, he had sensed many cultivators appearing; likely, some who had been meditating in the hall had decided to explore the outside for various reasons. Li Yan himself had been spotted by a Void Refining cultivator only because he hadn’t concealed his form while searching the spirit fields. Since then, he had used concealment techniques to avoid encounters.

But he had changed his mind the moment he saw these newcomers. In his Divine Sense, he saw four extremely faint figures. They were skimming low, using the black shrubs to blend their shadows into the terrain.

Li Yan was very familiar with this approach.

‘The strength of these four should be in the Spirit Transformation realm. Judging by their subtle ripples, they are quite formidable among this batch of disciples. Why are they being so cautious when they are four together?’

Li Yan’s Divine Sense detected several pulses of magical power—leaks from their flight. Although their concealment arts were exquisite, they couldn’t fool him. He quickly determined they were all in the mid-to-late stages of the Spirit Transformation realm.

With a quick sweep, he saw them constantly scanning their surroundings. He immediately withdrew his Divine Sense. Their behavior suggested they were looking for something they didn’t want anyone else to know about. He decided to follow.

The four were incredibly cautious. Every time they traveled a certain distance, they would stop without warning to perform a thorough scan before moving on. When they encountered other cultivators, if the target’s cultivation was low, they would slip past quietly. If the target was powerful, they would hide and wait for them to leave. During the time Li Yan followed them, they hadn’t been detected by anyone.

They were lucky not to have run into any Void Refining powerhouses. But then again, there were only a handful of such cultivators in this batch. Li Yan’s earlier encounter had been a stroke of bad luck, especially given how vast the space outside the hall was.

Following them, Li Yan noticed their Divine Senses sweeping toward his position, but he knew they hadn’t found him. Their scans never lingered; they were just performing routine checks. Still, he didn’t dare get too close. The techniques in the Immortal Spirit Realm were miraculous, and artifacts found in markets could be surprising. It wouldn’t be shocking for a Spirit Transformation cultivator to have a treasure that could detect a concealed Void Refining practitioner.

Li Yan wasn’t a top-tier cultivator; he was merely an outstanding one among his peers. He never assumed he could completely overpower everyone in his realm. For instance, he wasn’t confident he could defeat his Senior Brother, Pei Buchong. Pei Buchong had spent far more time traveling and training than he had; without meeting him, Li Yan didn’t know what hidden cards his senior might hold. But while traveling with his Master, Dong Fuyi, he had heard him mention more than once that Pei Buchong was very strong. For a man of Dong Fuyi’s stature to call a junior “strong,” he must be among the best of his generation, especially since Dong Fuyi was well aware of Li Yan’s own strength.

The four figures continued forward. Although Li Yan had never been this way, he felt they were heading into increasingly remote territory. Had he been passing through alone, he might have left after a cursory scan. The spiritual energy here was growing thin—not a place where spirit plants would flourish—and there were no signs of ancient caves. The terrain followed a downward slope from the high hills.

Five days later, at the foot of a low hill, the shrubs became even denser, filled with clusters of sharp black thorns. The four illusory figures stopped again. Li Yan thought they were performing another routine scan.

But he was wrong. After about thirty breaths, instead of moving on, the four figures solidified. From his vantage point behind them, Li Yan saw their faces for the first time: three men and one woman.

To his surprise, he recognized them all. They were the people who always surrounded Yan Qingchen. There was Liu Siyu, at the mid-stage of Spirit Transformation, and another late-stage cultivator he recognized from the internal selection. The other two were late-stage disciples he had seen by the lake in Huangqi Valley; he had judged them to be veteran core elites.

But the moment he recognized them, the hair on the back of Li Yan’s neck stood up. Because in the center of the four, a fifth figure had suddenly appeared.

From his hiding spot, Li Yan saw it clearly. The moment Liu Siyu solidified, a man seemed to step right out of her shadow. He was handsome and refined—it was the alchemical prodigy, Yan Qingchen!

Even with Li Yan’s steady composure, he nearly lost control of his aura. Only his profound willpower prevented his concealment from flickering.

‘This… has he been flying in concealment this whole time? Or was he hidden in Liu Siyu’s spirit-storage bag?’

Li Yan was deeply shocked. He had survived many storms and faced opponents far stronger than himself. He knew there were peers more powerful than him, but even after returning to the sect, he hadn’t truly met them because Pei Buchong was in seclusion.

Though he considered two possibilities, he was ninety percent certain Yan Qingchen hadn’t been in a spirit-storage bag. He had sensed ripples in the five-element laws nearby, but no spatial ripples; no spatial treasure had been used.

Li Yan forced down his unease. He had followed them for five days and never once realized a fifth person was hidden among them. If he had tried to ambush the four, he would have been struck by the fifth, resulting in severe injury or death.

Fortunately, the five didn’t seem to have discovered him either; otherwise, they wouldn’t have revealed Yan Qingchen. Instead, they would have set a trap for him.

‘I’ve met Yan Qingchen more than once. I was certain his cultivation was at the late stage of Spirit Transformation. Is he actually a Void Refining powerhouse or higher? Or does he possess a supreme treasure like Shouyi?’

Li Yan’s mind was in turmoil. He could no longer be certain of Yan Qingchen’s true strength. However, the man couldn’t be higher than the Void Refining stage. Otherwise, Li Yan wouldn’t have been able to hide from him. Could an Body Integration expert fail to detect his presence?

This thought calmed him slightly. If an Body Integration old monster appeared, he wouldn’t even have a chance to run. Furthermore, he knew the rules of Huangqi Valley; Yan Qingchen wouldn’t dare sneak in if he were at the Body Integration stage.

At the same time, Li Yan recalled something. A few days ago, right after he had first started following them, a Divine Sense had swept over his hiding spot. Looking back, that must have been Yan Qingchen sensing something. But because the man hadn’t found him, he had let it go.

If that was the case, Li Yan could confirm one thing: even if Yan Qingchen had the strength of a Void Refining cultivator, his Divine Sense was not as powerful as Li Yan’s own.

‘He is using a very advanced concealment technique, or he has a treasure that masks his aura, which is why I couldn’t detect him!’

Li Yan’s mind worked quickly, and he finally forced himself to be calm. With this realization, he abandoned any thought of leaving. These five were acting so suspiciously; they clearly had a secret objective.

Yan Qingchen looked around, his expression filled with vigilance.