The speed at which Li Yan could retrieve his spirit stones, even in front of a heavily injured Nascent Soul Old Monster, was so slow it was like a freeze-frame. The thought had barely formed before his body was already pulled out of the cave. The terror of the Astral Wind on his skin made his liver and gallbladder split.
The protective formation at the cave entrance had taken Li Yan a great deal of effort to break through before. Now, all sorts of negative scenarios flooded his mind. He actually hoped the formation would be stronger, strong enough to stop the insane actions of this Nascent Soul senior who acted without a word. But all this disappointed the dazed Li Yan. The formation at the entrance was like a thin yellow mirror, shattered by the ancient ape puppet's charge.
At this moment, Li Yan felt like crying. He had spirit stones, many, many spirit stones. Even at the terrifying consumption rate of ten thousand spirit stones in a few breaths, he could have held out for another twenty or thirty breaths. Not to mention, he still had two mid-grade spirit stones. But his actions, in the face of a Nascent Soul expert's lightning-fast movements, seemed so out of place and slow.
Just as Li Yan's expression turned to despair, the silver-bell-like voice rang out again. "As expected, heaven does not wish for my demise. Seeing the Astral Wind slanting to one side just now, I knew it was about to die down. Kid, you're lucky. Giggle..." A string of crisp laughter echoed in Li Yan's ears. Then, his body stopped, as if he had landed on a soft pile of sand.
Li Yan was momentarily in a daze. He looked around in a bit of a daze. The surroundings were still filled with yellow sand, but it was no longer being whipped around by the wind, but was slowly settling to the ground.
"Senior, this... this..." Li Yan muttered, not yet having emerged from the shadow of death.
"This what? Look at you, about to be scared to death. With your cultivation level, you dared to come here? Let me tell you, the Astral Wind normally is in a state of tearing in all directions. When it starts to slant to one side in a regular pattern, it's about to stop. But it's only like this here. In a true turbulent space, the Astral Wind will never stop. Alright, we need to hurry up and leave this place. I still have many things to ask you." The ancient ape puppet was also looking around, and then it said impatiently.
As soon as her voice fell, Li Yan felt the ground beneath him shake violently, as if the mountains were collapsing and the earth was cracking. Then, Li Yan saw the entrance of the black hole secret cave they had just come out of, with yellow light constantly flashing. The shaking caused the yellow sand at the entrance of the cave to pour into the cave like it was being poured into a funnel. Li Yan's expression changed drastically. He knew that the Nascent Soul cultivator formed from the yellow sand had already reached the entrance.
Seeing Li Yan's changed expression, the ancient ape puppet withdrew its gaze from its surroundings and turned to look at the cave entrance, saying faintly, "This place is just as it was before, not much has changed. Also, you dared to come here to search for treasure without knowing anything? You must be a reckless fool! Don't worry, the few piles of sand in the cave can't come out. They'll quiet down in a moment." The first half of her sentence seemed to be to herself. Midway through, a pair of ape eyes stared at Li Yan, a green light flashing within them. The latter half of the sentence was directed at Li Yan.
After hearing this, Li Yan finally relaxed. Then he saw the ancient ape puppet looking at him as if he were an idiot. He couldn't help but smile bitterly and say, "Senior, please know that this junior would never dare to enter such a perilous land. I fled here after being chased."
"Oh? There are five people outside at this time. Three are mid-to-late stage Golden Core cultivators, and two are initial-stage Golden Core cultivators. Four of them are three thousand li away on the other side of the 'Flying Sand Grotto-Caves,' so they should have nothing to do with you. But there is an initial-stage Golden Core cultivator guarding outside here. Could it be this person who was chasing you? Yi, this person's physical body seems to be on the verge of collapse. Did someone else come with you? By the way, who are you?" The Demonic Cultivator in the ancient ape puppet had originally intended to leave immediately, but after hearing Li Yan's words, she actually gave up the idea of leaving immediately. A pair of strange eyes stared at Li Yan. With her experience, she didn't believe that Li Yan, with his cultivation, could have single-handedly seriously injured the Golden Core cultivator outside. So she believed that Li Yan must have had companions. At least several Pseudo-Core cultivators would be needed to have a sliver of a chance to ambush an initial-stage Golden Core cultivator. Li Yan was just a person who had luckily escaped under the cover of others. Otherwise, how could he have entered the Flying Sand Grotto-Caves so desperately?
"Oh, reporting to Senior, this junior was alone. I came from the nearby Huchen family. But as soon as I came out of the teleportation formation, I was inexplicably chased to this place by this person. In desperation, I self-destructed a magical treasure and was lucky enough to escape to this place." Li Yan didn't know the origin of this suddenly appearing terrifying Demonic Cultivator, so he could only speak vaguely.
"Huchen family? Huchen... I think I've heard of it. It seems to be a poison cultivator family, and they have their own rather impressive cultivation method, called the 'Ghostly Poison Scroll,' right? Hmm, in that case, it's possible. It seems the miserable state of that kid outside is indeed due to being poisoned. Since you are a poison cultivator of the Huchen family, where did you get this Thousand Luo Ancient Ape?" The ancient ape puppet nodded slightly after hearing Li Yan's answer and did not pursue the matter. It was clear that she was not very concerned about who was chasing Li Yan. Instead, she asked a question, but her voice suddenly became ice-cold.
Li Yan was considering how to explain how he had escaped from a Golden Core cultivator and had even managed to seriously injure him. Besides, his other three magical treasures in the cave had also been seen clearly by this person. It was a bit unreasonable for a Foundation Establishment cultivator to possess so many magical treasures at the same time. But the other party's change in attitude stunned Li Yan. It was clear that she didn't care about his situation at all, but had been doubtful about his identity all along. Li Yan could hear a coldness in her voice. Seeing that the gaze she was directing at him had become somewhat unfriendly, and she was carefully sizing him up and down.
Li Yan's mind raced, weighing the pros and cons. 'This mysterious senior Demonic Cultivator has been calling the ancient ape puppet a Thousand Luo Ancient Ape, and also said it was some "Ancient Treasure." And from the way she controlled the ancient ape puppet just now, it's clear that she is extremely familiar with it. It's highly likely that this senior has a deep connection with Junior Sister Bai Rou's "Wood Flow Sect." Her current attitude might have changed because she has mistaken me for a Huchen family cultivator. All of this can only mean that she is a friend of the "Wood Flow Sect," not an enemy. But when did the "Wood Flow Sect" get to know such a terrifying Nascent Soul Old Monster?' Li Yan only had to think for a moment to understand the stakes. Although he still didn't know who the other party was, as long as she wasn't an enemy of the Wood Flow Sect, it was fine.
"Senior, please know that this was a gift from a junior sister of the 'Wood Flow Sect.' It's a long story, but this place..." Li Yan listened to the rumbling explosions and roars from within the cave, and then thought of the Astral Wind that could come at any time. Having just survived a near-death experience, he couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive.
"Wood Flow Sect? A gift from a junior sister? She gave you a Thousand Luo Ancient Ape?" The silver-bell-like voice was filled with a sense of disbelief and mockery.
Li Yan only felt a playful gaze sweeping over him. But since this was the truth, Li Yan's expression was calm.
Seeing Li Yan's calm expression, and that there was no panic in his eyes because of her disbelief, the ancient ape puppet's gaze also became a little strange. After a moment, the ancient ape puppet let out a charming laugh.
"Giggle, alright, let's leave this place first. By my calculations, the Astral Wind might appear in less than half a cup of tea's time. Sigh, to think that I can't even deal with a single gust of Astral Wind now." She seemed to have believed Li Yan's words somewhat, and then let out a sigh of emotion.
As she spoke, a green light flashed from the ancient ape puppet's body. It grabbed Li Yan and flew out of the "Flying Sand Grotto-Caves." Li Yan did not resist at all. He knew that even if the other party was seriously injured, it depended on who she was being compared to. To deal with three Nascent Soul cultivators, she might need the help of this mysterious ancient ape puppet and consume a large amount of spirit stones. But to kill him, it would probably only take a single thought, no more effort than crushing an ant.
Ancestor Redfire sat cross-legged outside the "Flying Sand Grotto-Caves." From time to time, he would use his Divine Sense to scan the situation inside. But to his surprise, several hours had passed, and the damned kid still hadn't appeared.
'Could he have died inside?' Every time Ancestor Redfire thought of this, the anger in his chest uncontrollably rushed to his head. Li Yan had caused him to fail the Ye family's mission and lose a physical body, yet he hadn't even touched a single hair on Li Yan. Especially when he thought of the Ancient Treasure and magical treasures on Li Yan, if they were all lost in the "Flying Sand Grotto-Caves," how could he be reconciled? He had to capture Li Yan, refine his soul, and get the things on him to appease the anger in his heart.
Just as Ancestor Redfire was about to scan again with his Divine Sense, his eyes suddenly widened. Because in his single eye, a green light suddenly appeared and flew out of the "Flying Sand Grotto-Caves." Then the green light filled his entire vision, and then he felt a sharp pain in his dantian. Before he could react, his Divine Sense had already begun to dissipate. Before his Divine Sense dissipated, he vaguely heard a string of silver-bell-like laughter. "Giggle, now I have some spirit stones to use for the time being. Yi, how come he's also a poor ghost? Less than a hundred thousand spirit stones. Hmm, and six mid-grade spirit stones. Barely enough..." Then Ancestor Redfire only felt his head sink, and from then on, he fell into endless darkness.
Li Yan was speechless. The moment the ancient ape puppet rushed out of the "Flying Sand Grotto-Caves," Li Yan saw her raise a hand and wave it gently at the dazed Ancestor Redfire. Li Yan then saw a golden, soybean-sized Golden Core fly out from Ancestor Redfire's Dantian's Purple Mansion with a cloud of blood mist. Then, with a "ping," it exploded into specks of golden light. At the same time, the storage pouch at Ancestor Redfire's waist was snatched by the ancient ape puppet. With a string of silver-bell-like laughter, she fled into the distance. It was only after they were far away that Ancestor Redfire's originally cross-legged body exploded into a cloud of blood mist with a "ping." Only a large sand pit and specks of blood were left on the ground. Not even a single bone fragment was left in this world.
Li Yan was being held in a very awkward position. Although he was complaining endlessly in his heart, he didn't dare to say a word. Just from the way this senior Demonic Cultivator had acted just now, he knew that she was a completely unrestrained person. He hadn't asked her to kill Ancestor Redfire. Perhaps this Demonic Cultivator was just after the spirit stones on him. Without any warning, in a single encounter, she had killed Ancestor Redfire with a wave of her hand, as if an annoying little bug was blocking her way.
It was already midnight. Li Yan was being carried by the ancient ape puppet as they sped along. Perhaps because she had really gotten Ancestor Redfire's spirit stones, the ancient ape puppet's speed suddenly accelerated, and it flew forward at a speed that was incredible to Li Yan.
Li Yan's ears were filled with wind, and the scenery before him was a blur. He didn't know where he was now. The ancient ape puppet also didn't say another word along the way.
Just as Li Yan was getting dizzy from the flight, the ancient ape puppet finally stopped. Li Yan was thrown to the ground. He only felt that the ground beneath him was soft. After gently shaking his head, his somewhat dazed mind gradually began to awaken.
"Now, you can talk. Remember, don't play any tricks. For the sake of you indirectly saving me, I'll give you a chance to speak. Otherwise, I don't mind performing a Soul-Search directly." Under the moonlight, a cold voice sounded in Li Yan's ear.