With this sudden turn of events, Li Yan felt the wind rush past his ears, and cold sweat broke out on his body. He had only moved his left foot, and such an unpredictable thing had happened.
In his anxiety, Li Yan hurriedly tried to fly upwards, but in the next moment, his expression changed. He couldn't fly up at all. A force from above, which he couldn't match, pressed down, causing his descent to accelerate.
In his Divine Sense, the space below was like a bottomless abyss; his Divine Sense couldn't even reach the end. Although Li Yan couldn't fly upwards, under the surge of his spiritual energy, his falling speed had been greatly reduced, and his figure had finally stabilized. The surroundings were pitch black, giving Li Yan the feeling that the end of the world had come, and he was a lonely figure drifting in the void.
'The grotto-cave's secret cave is truly bizarre. Everything seemed calm, but just moving half a step caused a sudden change.' Li Yan had felt that the calm he had seen was very abnormal. The reason the records said not to move around casually was because you truly couldn't be the slightest bit casual.
Li Yan couldn't know or imagine what lay at the bottom. Perhaps it was truly a place that even Nascent Soul cultivators wouldn't easily set foot in. At this point, Li Yan could only resign himself to fate. Since he had chosen the "Flying Sand Grotto-Caves," he was prepared to perish. It was just that all of this seemed to be happening too quickly. But how could Li Yan be one to wait for death? He slapped another ten "Ghost-Chariot Talismans" on the outside of his spiritual energy shield. He had bought a total of thirty "Ghost-Chariot Talismans" when he left the sect this time. He had already used ten just now. Now he used another ten. According to Li Yan's estimation, if the combined twenty "Ghost-Chariot Talismans" couldn't even withstand a single encounter, the remaining ten would have a negligible effect. It was better to keep them as a backup.
As for the Qiongqi Purgatory Art, since he had successfully cultivated the first layer, his physical body was now always at the strength achieved after cultivation, unlike the first three phrases of the cultivation method, where his body could only reach a certain degree of toughness when he was circulating his qi to cultivate. Now he didn't have to constantly circulate the technique.
During the more than a month he was at home, Li Yan's state of mind seemed to have undergone a cleansing, and the bottleneck in his Qiongqi Purgatory Art cultivation had loosened at that time. Afterwards, Li Yan had practiced diligently day and night and had broken through to the late stage of the first layer. The toughness of his physical body had already surpassed that of a peak late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, reaching the realm of a Pseudo-Core physical body.
Li Yan constantly looked around, thinking of a countermeasure. Suddenly, his gaze froze. As he was falling, he suddenly looked in one direction. Although it was just as pitch black there, a faint yellow light gradually appeared. Then, the yellow light became brighter and brighter, and the ball of light grew larger and larger. After just two breaths, a dazzling yellow light filled Li Yan's entire vision.
With a grave expression, Li Yan saw a golden giant appear in the dazzling yellow light. The moment the golden giant appeared, it came whistling towards him. It held a golden steel fork with both hands, its head was as large as a bushel, and its face was somewhat blurry. Its upper body was bare, revealing rough skin, and it wore tattered golden shorts. Li Yan looked closely. The giant's rough skin was filled with a sandy texture, as if it were composed of grains of sand.
As Li Yan fell, the giant had instantly appeared above his head. It looked down and let out a roar, then thrust the fork down at Li Yan.
'Could the endless fine sand that flowed into the bottom of the cave have formed this strange man?' Li Yan's thoughts raced, but his hands did not stop. He couldn't sense the giant's aura, so he couldn't gauge its strength. But he knew where he was. For a small Foundation Establishment cultivator like him to enter this place was laughable.
The golden giant fork came with great speed and urgency. From the moment Li Yan discovered the faint yellow light to the golden giant's attack, less than half a breath had passed. Falling, Li Yan had no way to dodge. He hardened his heart, let out a shout, and threw a punch straight up. The joints in his body cracked and popped. In the next moment, Li Yan's fist collided directly with the golden giant fork. A loud bang echoed muffledly in this dark void. A brilliant shockwave, in the shape of a half-moon, spread out from the point of contact, rippling outwards. In an instant, the dark space where Li Yan was located was illuminated by flickering lights of various colors.
Li Yan only felt as if his punch had hit a mountain of a thousand jun. A sharp pain shot through his right hand, and the bones of his fist were a bloody mess. Thirteen of the "Ghost-Chariot Talismans" on his body exploded instantly. Li Yan, inside his spiritual energy shield, was hit hard. His entire body's descent became even more rapid, and he fell towards the bottomless abyss below like a meteorite.
Li Yan's internal organs felt suffocated, and his head was a little dizzy. His right arm, from the palm to the arm, was numb, as if ten thousand fine needles were simultaneously piercing his flesh. The sharp pain cleared his head a little.
'This golden giant is probably at the level of an initial-stage Golden Core cultivator, but it has no spiritual energy fluctuations. It's a pure physical cultivator.' Although Li Yan was injured in the hasty exchange, he felt a little relieved. The golden giant's cultivation was high, but since it couldn't use immortal arts, in terms of physical cultivation, it couldn't take his life in a single encounter. The only thing Li Yan had that was close to the Golden Core level was his physical tempering. His spiritual power and immortal arts were a joke in the eyes of a Golden Core cultivator. This was a stroke of luck in a desperate situation.
In fact, in his haste, Li Yan still hadn't figured out the truth. The reason he wasn't immediately killed by the golden giant was not entirely because his spiritual energy was several times more abundant than his peers after cultivating the True Scripture of Gui Water, nor was it because his body was astonishingly tough after cultivating the Qiongqi Purgatory Art. There was another important reason: Li Yan had a ninth-rank Foundation Establishment. His Dao Platform was incomparably stable, and he had touched upon the Lotus Throne. His body had been tempered by the Wind and Thunder Tribulation, which was something that would only happen at the Golden Core realm or higher. The toughness of his internal organs and meridians was comparable to that of an ordinary Golden Core cultivator. These three factors were indispensable. Otherwise, Li Yan would not have been able to withstand that blow.
Seeing himself falling like a meteorite crashing to the ground, his falling speed more than ten times faster than before, just as Li Yan was about to forcefully use his spiritual energy to slow his descent, he saw the golden giant above him roaring and chasing after him again. But for a moment, it was not as fast as Li Yan's descent. This also showed the power of the golden giant's earlier strike.
Thus, Li Yan simply gave up the idea of using his spiritual energy to resist the fall. After a slight hesitation, he actually used the Thousand Jin Fall technique, making his body fall even faster. Since he couldn't match it, he could only dodge first.
Looking at the golden giant some distance above him, Li Yan finally let out a long breath. He circulated the spiritual energy in his body, and after a moment, the feeling of suffocation subsided a lot. He checked his internal organs; they had only suffered from the shock. Li Yan then directed his spiritual energy to his right arm. After circulating his spiritual energy, the sharp pain in his right arm eased a lot, but he still felt as if millions of fine needles were constantly pricking his flesh.
Feeling the burning pain on the back of his right hand, Li Yan couldn't help but rejoice secretly. Whether the golden giant was made of fine sand or not, it was fortunate that it followed the path of a physical cultivator. His own physical body had long been so strong that it was terrifying. Even in a head-on clash with a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator, Li Yan could absolutely crush them in terms of physical strength. And just now, Li Yan had the help of the "Ghost-Chariot Talismans" and his spiritual energy shield. The instant explosion of thirteen "Ghost-Chariot Talismans" had blocked at least half of the attack's force, and his spiritual energy shield had blocked another part, before it finally clashed with Li Yan.
Thinking of this, Li Yan no longer hesitated. He directly slapped the remaining ten "Ghost-Chariot Talismans" on the outside of his spiritual energy shield. Now Li Yan regretted that he had bought too few "Ghost-Chariot Talismans." The sect's talismans were truly powerful, but at this point, he could only use what he had.
If an initial-stage Golden Core cultivator had attacked with a spell just now, the chances of Li Yan surviving the blow would have been negligible. In terms of spiritual power, even though Li Yan was much more profound than his peers, compared to a Golden Core cultivator, even with the help of talismans, it was like the difference between clouds and mud.
And physical cultivators were usually not good at flying. They were close-combat experts. Their short-distance burst speed was frighteningly fast, but once the distance was pulled apart, they couldn't easily catch up.
Li Yan stared unblinkingly at the pursuing golden giant above. As long as the other party got close, Li Yan could only take the attack again. But at this time, he could at most take two more attacks, because he only had seventeen "Ghost-Chariot Talismans" left on his body. He might be able to survive the second attack; it would be good if four or five "Ghost-Chariot Talismans" were left. The third time would depend on luck.
As Li Yan was tense, the golden giant in the sky, with its cultivation far exceeding his, was getting closer and closer. It was about to land on his head. Li Yan's whole body tensed up, ready to receive the next blow. He had already made a plan. This time, he would only use the force to deflect it, allowing himself to fall even faster, in order to conserve his strength and more "Ghost-Chariot Talismans."
At this time, in his Divine Sense, the space below was still unfathomably deep and boundless. According to Li Yan's own estimation, in just this short while, he had already fallen more than two hundred zhang. Li Yan couldn't know what was at the bottom. He could only take it one step at a time.
When the golden giant in the air was only about ten zhang away from Li Yan's head, it suddenly stopped in mid-air. It only kept roaring at Li Yan below, but no longer chased. This sudden change made Li Yan feel surprised and uncertain, not knowing what had happened.
Looking at the golden giant getting farther and farther away in the sky above, the surroundings gradually returned to darkness and silence. Li Yan could only hear the whistling sound of the wind as he fell. There were no sun, moon, or stars, and no light. Li Yan felt as if he had entered a permanent cycle of reincarnation.
Just as Li Yan's mind was a little dazed, a faint yellow light suddenly lit up in the distant void. In this dark environment, this point of yellow light was as eye-catching as the scorching sun. And it was indeed very eye-catching, because the moment Li Yan discovered the faint yellow light, it expanded rapidly, and the golden light instantly became dazzling.
Li Yan cursed inwardly, because he had already guessed what was coming. He let out a loud shout, and the five-colored spiritual light on his body also grew brighter. In the next moment, he used the "Raise Fire to Scorch the Heavens" stance with both hands, punching upwards fiercely, while his body leaned to one side. And the moment he threw his punches, a golden giant holding a golden giant fork had already struck down from above. This golden giant's figure was the same as the one that had appeared before, but the luster of its golden armor was much smoother, and its face had the outline of facial features. What was even more terrifying was that its power was at least two or three times greater than the previous golden giant.
The golden giant came even faster than before. The moment Li Yan saw the faint yellow light appear, in the blink of an eye, it had arrived above the falling Li Yan. Then, a dazzling light burst out between the two. A five-colored light was seen falling downwards at an even faster speed. And only then did a loud bang echo through the entire void. The speed of their attacks had already surpassed the speed of sound.
The golden giant saw Li Yan in the five-colored light vomiting blood profusely, yet he was not dead. A low shout came from the blurred facial features of its large mouth. "You must die!" It once again chased downwards.
Li Yan coughed up blood continuously, and he was already in a semi-conscious state. The moment he came into contact with the golden giant, he knew it was bad. This person's fork was at least several times more powerful than the previous one. Fortunately, Li Yan's original plan was to use force to deflect force, and he had no intention of taking it head-on, so he had been prepared.
But even so, the second golden giant's strike was not something Li Yan could withstand. The seventeen "Ghost-Chariot Talismans" on his body exploded instantly, turning into clouds of powder. His spiritual energy shield also turned into specks of spiritual light with a soft sound. The remaining force directly hit his two fists. Li Yan's body slid to the side, and his two fists brought the force downwards. With two more crisp sounds, Li Yan's arms drooped sharply. The golden giant fork also changed direction and struck into the void. But the rolling force of the golden giant fork still hit Li Yan's side, sending his body flying sideways.