To make the Huchen Ancestor not dare to act recklessly, what Li Yan had to do was actually very simple: just reveal the Malevolent Spirit Sect's token at the right moment, as if inadvertently. However, doing so would completely expose Li Yan. At that point, it wouldn't just be the Huchen Ancestor in the plaza who saw the Malevolent Spirit Sect token.
Li Yan had heard that the Jingtu Sect had medicinal pill dealings with the Huchen family. Once his whereabouts were exposed, given the relationship between the four major sects, the hunting of low-level disciples had never ceased. If any Huchen family disciple let it slip, although he could change his appearance and still go to the Jingtu Sect's territory, those with a mind to it could just pay attention to people coming from the Huchen family, which would definitely be a huge hassle. Li Yan did not want to reveal his identity just like that.
After a moment's thought, Li Yan's eyes suddenly lit up. He had a countermeasure. After mulling it over in his mind, he felt that it wouldn't bring him any trouble and made his decision.
Li Yan looked towards the peach blossom forest. He felt that besides dealing with the Three-Legged Carrion Earthworms, the biggest trouble was the sky full of petals. If Li Yan were to force his way through, he believed that with the current toughness of his body, even if he had to withstand a group attack from tenth-level Qi Condensation cultivators, as long as he was fast enough, it would be no problem at all. The reputation of the Qiongqi Purgatory Art as a top-tier body-tempering art in this world was not for nothing. But this was also something Li Yan was unwilling to use. It was his life-saving trump card; how could he be willing to expose it in front of such a large crowd? It seemed he would have to blast through those petals with arts.
The people in the plaza watched the two figures on the light screen, both of whom seemed to be standing still, lost in thought, without a solution to pass. Just as the crowd was getting impatient, Li Yan moved.
Li Yan slapped his waist, and a small porcelain bottle appeared in his hand. He uncorked it and directly tilted his head back, pouring the pills from the bottle into his mouth. With this action, the crowd knew that Li Yan was about to start breaking through the peach blossom forest before them. Li Yan didn't pour the pills into his palm but directly into his mouth, preventing anyone from knowing what kind of pills he had taken.
At the same time Li Yan returned the small porcelain bottle to his storage pouch, a thick green mist suddenly rose from his body, which was originally clad in a green robe. In just a few breaths, it had completely enveloped his figure. From a distance, he looked like a green monster standing there, exuding an eerie and sinister aura.
The commotion on his side also alerted Huchen Wanmu on the other side. He had been pondering whether to use that talisman, while also thinking of other methods. Although he was thinking, he had long since allocated a wisp of his Divine Sense to keep an eye on Li Yan's movements. Now, seeing Li Yan instantly transform into a fearsome green monster, his heart jumped in alarm.
'What did this kid eat? How did he become so inhuman, so ghostly? I've never heard of such a divine ability.' While Huchen Wanmu was hesitating, Li Yan had already transformed into a streak of green flame and charged towards the peach blossom forest. He moved with extreme speed; anyone could see that he intended to pass this stage as quickly as possible.
The moment Li Yan approached the edge of the peach blossom forest, the area ignited like oil set ablaze. Explosions echoed endlessly in the air. From within the green mist, one after another, cultivation manuals were unleashed. "Fireball Art," "Water Arrow Art," "Wind Blade Art," "Wood Thorn Art"... all kinds of arts flew out like a canopy, meeting the petals in the air.
The techniques Li Yan used were all the most fundamental arts. In the Gui Water Immortal Sect, where there were no basic immortal arts before the Foundation Establishment stage, Li Yan had practiced these fundamental arts diligently every day, long having perfected them to the realm of Great Ascension. Now, when he used them, it left people dumbfounded.
On the other side, Huchen Wanmu was mesmerized. He also knew these basic immortal arts, but he was absolutely incapable of cultivating them to the Great Ascension stage like Li Yan. With higher-level immortal arts available, who would waste time cultivating these basic ones? No matter how well you practiced a basic immortal art, its power was ultimately limited. How could it compare to mid or high-level immortal arts?
'How has this kid mastered every single basic immortal art? Does he have too much time on his hands? And... is he... does he have a Miscellaneous Spirit Root?' Watching the various elemental basic arts at the Great Ascension stage fly about, Huchen Wanmu was shocked. In the plaza, the crowd's eyes widened one by one. They looked at each other, none of them capable of cultivating so many basic immortal arts to such a level, especially the Huchen family disciples who had to spend a lot of time cultivating the Ghostly Poison Scroll.
"Why would this person cultivate basic immortal arts to the Great Ascension stage? Isn't that a waste of his already limited cultivation time? I wonder what he's thinking."
"This isn't about cultivating basic immortal arts anymore. Look, he's using all five elemental arts. It seems only a Miscellaneous Spirit Root cultivator can do that, right? Since when did Miscellaneous Spirit Roots become so powerful?"
Even an ordinary cultivator would understand that when practicing basic immortal arts during the Qi Condensation stage, one would only practice arts related to one's own attribute. Someone with fire spiritual power would definitely choose "Fireball Art." If a fire spiritual power user were to practice "Water Arrow Art," although they could imitate it, the effect would be unsatisfactory, let alone cultivating it to the Great Ascension stage.
Forget the disciples below; even the Huchen Ancestor on the main platform showed a look of surprise. As Li Yan's cultivation had improved, now even a Nascent Soul Old Monster couldn't determine Li Yan's spirit root just by using Divine Sense. They would have to probe Li Yan's body with Spirit Power to know his Spirit Power attribute.
Seeing Li Yan easily use basic immortal arts of various attributes, the Huchen Ancestor's resolve wavered for a moment. He suddenly felt that this kid might have a very powerful force behind him. Otherwise, who would be so bored as to specialize in cultivating basic immortal arts? This practice itself represented some kind of secret. The thought struck him as incredible. A Miscellaneous Spirit Root cultivator reaching Foundation Establishment was almost impossible. All this combined made the Huchen Ancestor's killing intent waver. And this was precisely the reason Li Yan deliberately used arts of various attributes—to first plant a seed of doubt in the Huchen Ancestor's heart, a seed that would make him hesitate before trying to kill him.
All of this happened in the instant Li Yan reached the edge of the peach blossom forest, in just one or two breaths. The discussion about his use of basic immortal arts had just begun when cries of alarm rang out again.
Huchen Wanmu watched Li Yan, who was like an arrow released from a bow. Before his previous thought had even faded, an even more shocking scene appeared before his eyes.
Li Yan, shrouded in green mist, had no defense at his feet to deal with the swarming Three-Legged Carrion Earthworms. His Divine Sense was fully spread out, dealing only with the whistling petals in the air. Countless peach blossoms rained down from all directions like heavy hammers. His hands continuously formed seals, unleashing various arts. As for which arts to use, he based it on the petals' size, distance, and speed, casually using the immortal art with the shortest path and fastest attack. He had completely ignored the Three-Legged Carrion Earthworms around him. The moment he stepped into the peach blossom forest, from the tide-like sea of Stinking Earthworm Leaves on the ground, streams of Three-Legged Carrion Earthworms had shot out. They were either arched in the air or had their bodies straight. Regardless of their form, they had already opened their mouths, and streams of white liquid shot towards Li Yan's body like arrows. After spitting out a stream of white liquid, these Three-Legged Carrion Earthworms would fall back onto the Stinking Earthworm Leaves, their small eyes staring excitedly at the sky, as if waiting for a delicious meal to fall.
The white liquid was like steel nails, directly striking Li Yan's body. As soon as the white liquid made contact with a solid object, it immediately transformed into maggots, each with a sharp spike on its head and a thin, milky-white body. Wriggling continuously like they were topped with a sharp horn, they struggled to burrow into Li Yan's body.
But at this moment, Li Yan's body was covered in a thick layer of green smoke. As the green smoke churned around him, the moment the wriggling maggots made contact, they let out shrill, ear-piercing screams. Then, wisps of white smoke rose from Li Yan's body, and in an instant, dozens of maggots were turned to nothing. The ones that had just screamed were not the white maggots, but the Three-Legged Carrion Earthworms below that had spat out the white liquid. The moment a white maggot disintegrated into white smoke, a Three-Legged Carrion Earthworm below would let out a sharp cry, and in the next moment, it would melt into a puddle of green water, directly merging with the Stinking Earthworm Leaves.
The Three-Legged Carrion Earthworm itself had no offensive power; all its attacks and toxins were contained in the white liquid. This white liquid was tied to its life. When the white liquid was annihilated, the Three-Legged Carrion Earthworm's body would also die instantly.
The green liquid from the dead Three-Legged Carrion Earthworms was absorbed by the Stinking Earthworm Leaves below, causing the wave of leaves to surge even more fiercely, as if they were extremely excited. This, in turn, drove the living Three-Legged Carrion Earthworms into a more excited and active state, leaping high into the air. The Three-Legged Carrion Earthworms and the Stinking Earthworm Leaves were mutually reinforcing.
Li Yan's method was also extremely risky. He was using one of the eighteen new types of Fragmented Poison toxins that had been born last time. This toxin could not be used for long-range attacks, and its form was very obvious, so it was not suitable for silently dispatching opponents. However, it had an entangling and burning effect on physical objects, but no defense against magical art attacks, making its use very limited. Li Yan had named it "Green Flame Incinerating Gold." In reality, there was no flame to be seen; the green mist had no flicker of fire, but the toxins within would silently incinerate anything they touched.
When he had seen the Three-Legged Carrion Earthworms earlier, he didn't want those disgusting things to touch him, so he had thought of "Green Flame Incinerating Gold." The moment he first stepped onto the Stinking Earthworm Leaves, while inside the green mist, he had slapped a "Ghost-Chariot Talisman" on himself, fearing that his calculations were wrong and the maggots would burrow into his body.
The result, however, greatly relieved Li Yan. Based on his years of research on the Fragmented Poison Body, his general direction for its use had not been wrong. But before he deployed "Green Flame Incinerating Gold," he had still pretended to swallow a qi-replenishing pill to prevent people from thinking he had a special constitution. Although he wasn't too worried about his Fragmented Poison Body being easily recognized, being cautious was his consistent principle. Even the "Ghost-Chariot Talisman" was hidden beneath the green mist.
Now, he had to pass through as quickly as possible, because "Green Flame Incinerating Gold" required a large amount of Spirit Power to sustain. At the same time, the endless petal attacks from outside were also very draining. Although his Spirit Power was abundant, he was unwilling to consume it like this for a long time, because he didn't know what kind of assessment awaited him next.
While everyone was wondering what kind of pill Li Yan had taken to be able to withstand the attacks of all the Three-Legged Carrion Earthworms so fiercely, Li Yan had already broken through to the middle of the peach blossom forest.
"Damn it, what did he just eat!" Huchen Wanmu's eyes blazed, greed rising in his heart, but even more so, jealousy. He had never heard of such a pill. And from the looks of it, Li Yan's pill was indeed effective. In just a dozen breaths, he had already rushed halfway through.
Meanwhile, outside, Huchen Wuding had gone from his initial calmness to staring intently, muttering, "What kind of pill is this of Senior Li's? How can it be so powerful? Why is there no mention of it in the Ghostly Poison Scroll? Senior Li's methods are beyond reach. Indeed, Poison Cultivators are not a path the Huchen clan alone can dominate."
Zhuo Lingfeng also nodded and said, "I have fought with Malevolent Spirit Sect cultivators before. Their poison methods are also unpredictable and mysterious. The Huchen family can only be said to have its unique aspects. When it comes to the art of using poison, there are countless methods in this world. I remember that within the Malevolent Spirit Sect, Li Wuyi and Baili Yuan could make the space around them unapproachable with just a laugh and a joke."