But no matter how clever Ancestor Redfire was, there were times he misjudged. More than a decade ago, while out, he encountered two young women from the Ye Family who were out training. Seeing their beautiful and refined appearances, he harbored malicious intent and directly abducted them back to his Cave Residence for his pleasure. To his surprise, one of the two women was a direct descendant of the Ye Family and had a life-saving measure. In her haste, she crushed a voice transmission jade talisman. In just one day, the Ye Family Ancestor had tracked him down to his Cave Residence. The moment they met, a fierce battle ensued. But no matter what divine abilities Ancestor Redfire used, with a gap of two entire realms, how could he be a match for the Ye Family Ancestor? In the end, he was defeated and captured.
After fighting with Ancestor Redfire, the Ye Family Ancestor's initial killing intent had changed to a desire to subdue him. In the end, he promised Ancestor Redfire that if he was willing to become a stipended Guest Elder of the Ye Family, not only would he not kill him, but he would also give him the two young women as concubines. Moreover, the Ye Family would provide him with a large amount of cultivation resources. Thus, this lone titan became a Guest Elder of the Ye Family.
With this, the entire Ye Family became extremely strong among the second-rate families. Considering that the Xuanqing Temple was already somewhat famous with only one mid-stage Golden Core ancestor, not to mention the Ye Family, which was a cultivator family with three Golden Core cultivators, they had leaped to become a top power among the second-rate families.
This time, Ancestor Redfire had come to the Huchen family with the Ye Family Ancestor, while the other Golden Core elder stayed behind to guard the Ye Family. Just in case, when they were some distance from the Huchen family, the Ye Family Ancestor had left Ancestor Redfire outside as a contingency. In the end, when Li Yan helped Huchen Wuding achieve the final victory, the Ye Family Ancestor had not seen the Ten-Pace Courtyard sword that Li Yan had taken out. So in his heart, he always believed that Li Yan and Zhuo Lingfeng were on the same side. His own painstaking plan had come to nothing, and it was Li Yan's doing. So he had marked the two of them as targets for assassination. However, he had to attend the Huchen family's Successor's ceremony in three days, so he couldn't leave. Thus, he sent a message to Ancestor Redfire, who was outside, carving Li Yan's and the other man's appearances and sending it along, telling him to kill them no matter what.
After receiving the message, Ancestor Redfire went to the vicinity of the Huchen family to wait. Sure enough, he soon found Li Yan and Zhuo Lingfeng. But he didn't dare to make a move there. He could only follow them from a distance, waiting for an opportunity. Although Ancestor Redfire knew that the Huchen Ancestor wouldn't always have his Divine Sense released, he was still cautious and followed them for more than five thousand li. Although he also called himself "Ancestor," he knew that his title of ancestor was probably not even comparable to a mouse compared to the Huchen Ancestor.
When Li Yan and the others finally entered the market town, there were also two Golden Core cultivators stationed within the town. He still couldn't make a move. To Ancestor Redfire's frustration, Li Yan and the other man separated as soon as they entered the market. After hesitating for a long time, Ancestor Redfire finally decided not to pursue Zhuo Lingfeng, but to stay and kill Li Yan. After all, the Ye Family Ancestor's message to him had specifically pointed out that the one who most deserved to die was Li Yan.
He followed Li Yan's teleportation here and, after tracking him for a short distance, his Divine Sense confirmed that there was no one else around besides the two of them. Ancestor Redfire then decided to make his move. This was not because he was timid, needing to be so careful when dealing with a Foundation Establishment cultivator. It was a habit he had developed as a rogue cultivator. Although he killed people like flies, he was cautious and prudent in his actions.
The thoughts of both sides had flashed through their minds in less than half a breath. When Li Yan exposed Ancestor Redfire's origin, Ancestor Redfire's eyebrows shot up. He didn't answer and gave Li Yan no more time. With a single wave of his hand, without any visible sign of forming a seal, a giant, flaming palm suddenly appeared in the air and slapped down from the sky. This palm was formed from fire spiritual energy, about four to five zhang in size. The moment it formed in the air, a high temperature that could burn everything rushed towards the ground.
Although Li Yan had been asking questions, he was already prepared. The moment Ancestor Redfire's eyebrows shot up, before he even made a move, Li Yan had already disappeared from his original spot. Facing a Golden Core cultivator, Li Yan had no choice but to dodge. In a vast desert, using the Earth Evasion Art was the fastest option.
"To use such a trick in front of this old man is truly laughable." Ancestor Redfire in the air glanced at the spot where Li Yan had disappeared, a sneer on his lips. He had no intention of using his magical treasure. Even the immortal art he used was a common one he could conjure at will. Ancestor Redfire's giant flaming palm in mid-air remained, but it changed direction and smashed fiercely towards a distant spot.
Underground, Li Yan, who was speeding through the quicksand, suddenly felt all the hairs on his body stand on end. Then, a huge force pressed down directly from above. In the next moment, the ten "Ghost-Chariot Talismans" he had just stuck to his body exploded with two loud bangs. Li Yan hurriedly ducked his head and arched his back. Then, he felt an immense force strike his spiritual energy shield directly. The whole earth let out a dull rumble, and then Li Yan was driven into the deeper quicksand like a nail.
As he fell, Li Yan spat out a large mouthful of blood. The spiritual energy shield around his body shattered like paper. His head was dizzy, and his chest was unbearably stuffy. Li Yan tried hard to shake his head, trying to clear it. Just now, he had only managed to take out ten of his only thirty "Ghost-Chariot Talismans" and slap them on his body. Although they were still no match, thankfully the thick layer of sand above him had dispersed most of the attack. Plus the combined defensive power of the ten "Ghost-Chariot Talismans" and his spiritual energy shield, he had managed to block the vast majority of the remaining attack's power. The final bit was taken by the Qiongqi Purgatory Art. Otherwise, he would be dead beyond dead right now.
"Yi!" Ancestor Redfire in mid-air let out a sound of surprise. Although his palm strike was ordinary, he had used thirty percent of his power. Normally, even a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator would be seriously injured by this strike, or even killed on the spot. He had only wanted to keep Li Yan alive for a Soul-Search, so he hadn't killed him directly. But this kid was only driven fifty-odd zhang further underground. In his Divine Sense, Li Yan still had an aura. Although it was extremely weak, he wasn't injured to the point of being unable to move.
Li Yan's head was still spinning. At this moment, his Earth Evasion Art was broken, and a huge force from all directions suddenly converged on him, as if to crush him to death. Cracking sounds came from Li Yan's body. A sharp pain shot through his shoulder blades. He knew that although he had taken the remaining attack with his back, his shoulder blades were already fractured in several places. And what was more fatal now was the sand and mud flowing towards him from all sides.
Ancestor Redfire in mid-air sneered contemptuously. He extended a finger, and in an instant, a stream of spiritual energy appeared at his fingertip, immediately transforming into a long, blood-like spiritual energy hook. He was about to hook Li Yan directly out of the ground. He believed that even if Li Yan could still move, he couldn't possibly dodge his spiritual energy hook. But at that moment, his body suddenly swayed, and his mind became muddled for an instant. Then, the circulation of spiritual energy in his body began to stagnate.
"Not good, I'm poisoned!" Ancestor Redfire was greatly alarmed. He had taken every precaution, but he still didn't know when he had been poisoned. The Ye Family Ancestor had told him in his message that the young cultivator he was after was skilled in using poison, and that he should be careful.
When Ancestor Redfire saw the message, he had taken it to heart. He was a cautious person and would not let his guard down just because the other party was a Foundation Establishment cultivator. But during the entire pursuit of Li Yan, he had held his breath and had his Divine Sense fully open, carefully sensing any abnormality. It could be said that during the entire pursuit, he would have known if there was even a strange smell or a tiny bit of smoke or water vapor coming from between him and Li Yan. But none of this had happened along the way. Even when he overtook Li Yan, he had deliberately avoided the path Li Yan had taken, yet he had still been inexplicably afflicted.
As Ancestor Redfire's body swayed, Li Yan, deep underground, barely managed to form a hand seal. The Earth Evasion Art was activated again. Although his shoulder blades were fractured, he had no intention of healing them at this moment. He once again fled into the distance with all his might. He was already terrified. A Golden Core cultivator was by no means someone he could fight. If the other party had gone all out from the beginning, using a powerful spell or his magical treasure, he would probably be a corpse on the spot by now. Fortunately, the other party had intended to capture him alive and had held back. They just hadn't expected him to have cultivated the Qiongqi Purgatory Art, which had strengthened his body to a very tough degree. Although the single strike had broken through his talismans and spiritual energy shield, he had still managed to withstand it.
Li Yan didn't bother to carefully check Ancestor Redfire's condition on the surface. In the face of absolute power, he could only flee. And since he hadn't been attacked again, he guessed that the poison in the other party's body had taken effect. However, Li Yan couldn't be sure how effective the poison he had set would be against a Golden Core cultivator, whether it would only be a momentary delay or last longer. So as long as he wasn't continuously attacked, he would just focus on escaping.
Li Yan's timing for setting an ambush was often difficult to predict. The moment he sensed something was wrong, he would strike first, regardless of whether the other party was truly an enemy.
This time, he had set the ambush in the teleportation formation. When Ancestor Redfire's behavior became abnormal at the last three nodes, and Li Yan couldn't see through his cultivation, he had quietly released a poison in the small space of the teleportation formation. This poison was the same one he had used on He Manzi, called "Heaven and Earth Isolation." The reason he chose this poison was because it was mild and was currently the most concealable among his Fragmented Poison Body's toxins. Its main function was just to isolate spiritual energy, causing the poisoned person to lose control of their spiritual energy for a short time, as if they were isolated from heaven and earth. At the same time, Li Yan was not sure if the other party was really an enemy, so he couldn't use a lethal method.
It was precisely Li Yan's cautious nature that allowed him to temporarily escape disaster. However, since he was unsure of the other party's background, he had only released a very small amount of the "Heaven and Earth Isolation" poison. This also caused its onset to be delayed. For a Golden Core cultivator, it was impossible for them to need a long time to recover like He Manzi. After confirming the situation, Li Yan directly broke out of the ground. The Earth Evasion Art was by no means as fast as flying. After flying into the air, Li Yan took out several pills and swallowed them, turning into a streak of light and flying rapidly towards the distant horizon.
Just as Li Yan quickly disappeared over the horizon, Ancestor Redfire, who had been meditating with his eyes closed, opened them slightly and gave a cold look in the direction Li Yan had disappeared. Then he closed his eyes again. But no one knew the rage in his heart at this moment. He had actually been ambushed by a Foundation Establishment cultivator. And to this moment, he still didn't know how the other party had done it.