Chapter 1792: A Terrifying Clansman

Li Yan proceeded to probe upstream for a distance and then searched the seam on the opposite bank as well. However, he found nothing. He did not continue searching other areas and returned to the original spot.

Just as he arrived, a flash of yellow light appeared at the end of the river, and Ming Qi emerged from the stone wall. Her expression was now quite grim, her delicate black brows locked in a tight frown.

After entering the mountain wall, she had not only reached the suspected terminal barrier but had also searched extensively to the left and right along the mountain range. Based on her mental calculations, the distance matched the width of the peaks they had seen from the outside, but being trapped inside, she couldn’t escape the mountain itself. From this, she could judge they were still within the mountain.

The interior was just as Li Yan had suspected—there was nothing noteworthy until one reached the barrier, where the heart-palpitating sensation occurred. However, Li Yan had been wrong about one thing: in her desperation after finding nothing, Ming Qi had actually tried to attack the barrier.

Li Yan had already secured what he wanted, but Ming Qi’s goal remained out of reach, making her more reckless. Yet, despite using her full power, she couldn’t even mar the barrier. It felt as if that was the end of all space, with no room for expansion.

Ultimately, she retreated to consult with Li Yan and decide whether they should use every means at their disposal to break the spatial barrier here or perhaps try the courtyard walls outside.

Upon exiting, she exchanged a few words with Ming Yu. Then, they saw Li Yan crouching on the riverbank, his head lowered and his palm pressed against the ground as if he were focused on something. He seemed entirely unaware of her arrival, completely absorbed in his task.

“Senior, have you discovered something?”

Li Yan, who had his palm over the thin seam and was pushing his power into the earth, finally raised his head and withdrew his hand.

“Come and see this. Look only at this single inch of ground. Probe downward and see if you find anything different.”

Li Yan pointed to the spot his palm had covered and beckoned to the sisters. Their spirits were instantly lifted. Hearing his words, it sounded as though he had made a discovery. Without hesitation, they flew over.

They landed and, without a word, swept their Divine Sense toward the spot Li Yan indicated. Time ticked away. After forty or fifty breaths, Ming Qi and Ming Yu withdrew their Divine Sense. They frowned and exchanged a look before turning to Li Yan. Ming Qi asked uncertainly, “Senior, is there a problem here?”

Even after pushing their Divine Sense a thousand miles into the earth, they had found nothing special. Had they not known that the gray-robed elder was not one for nonsense, they would have thought he was mocking them.

“Try injecting your power into it!” Li Yan did not answer directly but gave them another instruction. He was now certain that the two could not perceive that subtle difference. This wasn’t a test of their Divine Sense but an attempt to verify their other perceptions—specifically that “special Underworld Phoenix sensation” they had mentioned earlier.

“Power?”

A light flashed in their eyes. They finally realized why Li Yan had been crouching there with his palm on the ground; they had assumed he was using it to assist his sensing. Ming Yu immediately stepped forward. As Li Yan moved aside, she knelt down without hesitation.

She pressed a slender, snow-white palm against the ground and instantly surged her power. Ming Qi stood by her side, maintaining her Divine Sense to observe the fluctuations. But the moment the probe began, Ming Yu’s body shuddered violently. She yanked her hand back and snapped her head up, her face written with shock.

“What is it?” Ming Qi was even more confused. Her Divine Sense had followed her sister’s power to observe the fluctuations, but before she could sense anything, her sister had withdrawn as if she had seen a ghost.

“Kinsman… a kinsman…” Ming Yu remained kneeling. Her yellow dress was stretched tight over her curvaceous figure, yet she was entirely oblivious to it. Her voice was trembling.

Hearing the word “kinsman,” Ming Qi took a step forward and pressed her own palm against the spot. She surged her power inward instantly. Li Yan, standing nearby, understood Ming Yu’s meaning the moment he heard it.

‘That sensation I felt… it was the aura of the Immortal Underworld Phoenix?’

Li Yan had never seen a true Underworld Phoenix before. Since the sisters were masked by earth-attribute treasures, he couldn’t easily sense their specific auras. He could only perceive familiar power fluctuations when they fought with full strength. But the sensation beneath the ground was nothing like that.

This led Li Yan, who had found the feeling familiar, to look in the wrong direction; he had been trying to recall various formations he had studied. In his mind, he thought it was a formation he knew, perhaps an exit.

While Li Yan was lost in thought, the situation changed again. Within a short time, Ming Qi also shuddered and snapped her head up. However, her expression had turned into one of ecstatic joy. She stood up and spoke urgently.

“Is this the only place with this condition?” She asked Li Yan, forgetting to address him as “Senior” in her haste.

“I cannot say for certain if there are other spots, but I have checked the vicinity, and this is the only one I found. If my guess is correct, this might be the only entrance. What exactly did you discover?” Li Yan’s expression remained calm and steady. After his power had entered, it had been blocked by a formidable force. Aside from that, the vague sensation had not strengthened, leading him to conclude there was a problem below, though he lacked the sisters’ specific reaction.

“Senior, please forgive my earlier rudeness. We can sense that power; it is undoubtedly the ‘Netherworld Cleansing Nirvana’ technique left by a kinsman. Judging by the power response, it is at least a technique from the late-stage Body Integration realm…”

As Ming Qi spoke, her beautiful eyes turned red. Ming Yu was in a similar state.

Li Yan, though still appearing calm, was internally shocked. Fortunately, his ability to hide his emotions was peerless. He calmed himself instantly. They could actually sense the power of the Body Integration realm—a gap of two major realms—and even specify it was at least the late-stage. How could they sense the specific sub-stage?

Li Yan felt a chill run down his spine. His greatest worry had manifested. He had assumed the inheritance palace belonged to Huangqi Valley. If a powerful old monster were hidden here, the valley should have noticed. But from the sisters’ reaction, they seemed certain that an Underworld Phoenix was down there.

Was the creature in a state of suspended animation or deep seclusion? If it were to wake, it wouldn’t be like the Ming sisters; he would be no threat to it at all. Would it simply crush him to death for having refined the essence blood of its kin?

Li Yan suppressed his discomfort, his expression remaining attentive as if he were simply listening. But in his heart, thoughts were swirling, rapidly calculating how to handle this sudden turn of events.

‘Even if I have to break through the barriers to get out, I cannot let them disturb this old monster below…’ Li Yan’s thoughts turned cold and direct: should he kill these two? Or perhaps capture them and hide them away? If he could escape, he could bring them back to the Five Immortals Sect and have his Second Senior Uncle modify their memories so they could still be of use.

Seeing Li Yan staring silently at her face, Ming Qi realized that she and her sister had lost their composure. She didn’t realize that Li Yan was currently deciding whether or not to end their lives!

Ming Qi hurriedly wiped her eyes and continued. “…I apologize again for my lapse. It is just… the thought of such a powerful expert having perished here is somewhat overwhelming. How glorious was the Immortal Underworld Phoenix clan in the past? Such a master might have even reached the longed-for Tribulation Transcendence realm, yet in the end, they are nothing but a pile of yellow earth…”