The Feng and Huang clans often possessed spatial powers. Using their innate spatial abilities, they could easily travel between different spaces, completely unafraid of any spatial turbulence or bone-chilling astral winds.
This was similar to the Dragon Clan, who were adept at the power of time. Spatial and temporal divine arts were the two most supreme divine arts in this world. Countless top-tier cultivators wished to grasp even a fraction of them, but spent their entire lives unable to even enter the doorway of this Dao.
However, not all members of the Phoenix clans were born with spatial divine arts. For example, the "Undead Nether Phoenix" did not have spatial abilities, but it possessed an innate talent that other phoenix clans did not: an incomparably powerful physical body and speed.
Relying on its powerful physical body, the "Undead Nether Phoenix" could also travel freely through spatial turbulence.
Its terrifying speed, which allowed it to cross ten thousand li in an instant, made the "Undead Nether Phoenix" comparable to those phoenix clans that possessed spatial divine arts. It was almost on par with their "Great Spatial Shift" technique.
Therefore, the inheritance of speed also existed in the "Undead Nether Phoenix" bloodline. Whether the person who devoured the Essence Blood could comprehend it depended on their own great fortune.
That day, Li Yan had a flash of inspiration, a stroke of genius, and gained some unusual insights. After much contemplation, he finally broke through that barrier and obtained the method to use "Phoenix Soars to the Heavens."
Trying it out today, it was actually about twenty percent faster than when he used the "Cloud-Piercing Willow." But the drawback was that the rate of Spirit Power consumption was like a bursting dam.
In just that one incense stick's worth of time, Li Yan had already used up over eighty percent of the Spirit Power in his body, and the meridians in his body were now throbbing with a piercing pain, a sign that they had reached their limit.
It should be known that now, even if Li Yan madly used his Spirit Power to fully activate the "Cloud-Piercing Willow," he could only travel about thirteen thousand li in a day. By this calculation, it was much slower than "Phoenix Soars to the Heavens."
But the calculation couldn't be done this way. First, according to Shuang Qingqing, the "Cloud-Piercing Willow" was a flying magical treasure used by Nascent Soul cultivators. It was just that Li Yan's current cultivation was insufficient to fully activate its incantations.
Second, Li Yan simply couldn't use "Phoenix Soars to the Heavens" for a long time. If it exceeded one incense stick's worth of time, even if Li Yan consumed the "Melting Bamboo Shoot," it wouldn't work. Spirit Power could be restored, but the endurance of his meridians had reached its limit.
Even so, Li Yan was ecstatic.
Movement skill had always been one of Li Yan's weaknesses. Whether in combat or in stealth, his movement skill had limited his performance.
In battle, if he wanted to move quickly, he could only take out the "Cloud-Piercing Willow" to barely compensate for this weakness. But a magical treasure was still a magical treasure; it couldn't replace his own body.
And when practicing stealth, if he sped up slightly, because the movement skill Li Yan cultivated was just a common technique for Foundation Establishment cultivators, it was difficult to hide the fluctuations of Spirit Power, making it easy for enemies to detect him.
But just now, while using "Stealthy Night Art," Li Yan had also incorporated the "Phoenix Soars to the Heavens" technique. To Li Yan's surprise—he had only been trying it out—the result shocked him beyond words.
Because the "Stealthy Night Art," a magical art of the Gui Water Immortal Sect which usually required slow movement to maintain a hidden state, had its Spirit Power fluctuations significantly reduced when augmented by the "Phoenix Soars to the Heavens" movement skill.
After continuous adjustments, Li Yan finally discovered that when his speed was reduced to just over ten percent of the full power of "Phoenix Soars to the Heavens," it was no different from the state of "Stealthy Night Art" without any movement skill augmentation.
Although it seemed like only a speed increase of about ten percent, this was the "Phoenix Soars to the Heavens" technique of the "Undead Nether Phoenix" clan.
If Li Yan using "Stealthy Night Art" before was like a snail, then with the augmentation of "Phoenix Soars to the Heavens," he was at least at the running speed of an adult.
Otherwise, back at Griefspirit Manor, Li Yan wouldn't have taken so long to walk from the manor gate to the building where Ding Yushan was.
Of course, what excited Li Yan the most was that at this speed, "Stealthy Night Art" still maintained what was currently his strongest hidden state. He could launch a sneak attack in optimal condition at any time. This was definitely an unexpected surprise.
After confirming this result, Li Yan looked around and found another desolate valley to land in.
Just over ten breaths later, a world-shaking explosion erupted from the desolate valley out of thin air. In an instant, it was razed to a large patch of flat ground, and Li Yan's figure shot out from it.
Amidst a burst of hearty laughter, Li Yan's figure just flickered and disappeared over the distant horizon. Behind him, he left only a ground full of rubble and vegetation, collapsed mountain peaks, and some trembling wild beasts.
As he flew, Li Yan quietly looked at his palm. Whenever he channeled Qi to his palm, his skin would faintly glow with a silver light. It was unnoticeable without careful observation.
His Qiongqi Purgatory Art was still at the early stage of the second layer, but Li Yan knew that the division of his Qiongqi Purgatory Art's realm might have already taken a different path. Its current power was by no means as simple as the normal second layer of the Qiongqi Purgatory Art.
Before, in the desolate valley, just by relying on his raw physical strength, he could easily pierce through a mountainside. With a light punch or kick, the surrounding space would visibly twist and deform.
Li Yan had seen the power of Gong Chenying's late-stage third layer Qiongqi Purgatory Art at full strength. She could punch through a similar mountainside, but only just, and it required her full effort. It was by no means as easy and effortless as it was for him.
Li Yan now felt that if he were to encounter the two demon lords from Griefspirit Manor again, he wouldn't dare say he could take on both at once. But in a surprise attack, if he were to clash head-on with the manor lord, even with the incomparably tough physical body of the Demon Clan, Li Yan was confident he could heavily injure the other party with a single punch, or even kill them outright.
Feeling the cool wind on his face, Li Yan felt as if he were in a dream. On this trip to the Land of the Northern Abyss, not only did he obtain the "Infinite Wanderer" branch, but he also unexpectedly got a small piece of "Melting Bamboo Shoot" and three drops of "Undead Nether Phoenix" Essence Blood.
Apart from the "Infinite Wanderer" branch, which was likely useless to most cultivators, either the "Melting Bamboo Shoot" or the "Undead Nether Phoenix" Essence Blood, if taken out, would probably attract the frenzied plunder of even Nascent Soul cultivators.
Therefore, Li Yan would never easily show these two things to others again. As for the trace of "Undead Nether Phoenix" Essence Blood he had already consumed, he thought that no one would be able to tell, as the "Undead Nether Phoenix" had long since become a distant legend in this world.
Thinking of the Demon Clan couple from Griefspirit Manor, Li Yan's eyes narrowed. Yesterday, before coming out of seclusion, he had taken out the dismembered corpse of the demoness and studied it carefully. This was not because Li Yan had any necrophiliac tendencies.
Li Yan actually just wanted to know, since that Pseudo-Core cultivator he had killed in the manor could cultivate Demon Clan techniques, why couldn't his Spirit Power drive the Demon Clan's magical treasures?
He wanted to see some clues from the changes in her flesh and blood and the course of her meridians. After all, the power of the Demon Clan's magical treasures was quite impressive, and he had several of them in his Storage Pouch.
But to Li Yan's disappointment, the demoness's flesh and blood were not much different from that of a demonic beast or even a human, just that her tendons were stronger, with a tensile strength about three to four times that of a human.
The course of her meridians was different from a human's, but when Li Yan infused Spirit Power to flow through them, he didn't notice any difference upon careful observation. His Spirit Power was not blocked at all and passed through her meridians and flesh freely.
This was the biggest gain for Li Yan; otherwise, he had found nothing.
However, this could explain why these demons could survive on the Desolate Moon Continent. It was because they could not only use Demonic Arts but also absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth on the Desolate Moon Continent.
Finally, when Li Yan took out the Demonic Core he had obtained and placed it back into the demoness's flesh, the Demonic Core and the flesh seemed to form some kind of close connection in an instant. The flesh on the demoness's dismembered body actually began to squirm.
This startled Li Yan, but he didn't believe that any being, whether demon or monster, could be reborn after losing its Essence Soul.
But he still immediately took out the Demonic Core, and the slight squirming of the flesh on the demoness's dismembered body on the ground immediately stopped. This left Li Yan momentarily unsure of what was happening.
After some consideration, with a thought, a small black net appeared before him. Li Yan raised a finger and pointed it at the black Demonic Core.
Then, a black, smoke-like power that did not belong to the Five Elements was forced out of the Demonic Core by Li Yan. Suppressing the various bloodthirsty and violent thoughts in his chest, Li Yan forcibly struck the small black net in front of him with that power.
The small black net immediately shook violently and then, before Li Yan's eyes, rapidly transformed and expanded.
Li Yan watched all of this with a blank expression. Before the net could get too big, he quickly removed his finger from the Demonic Core. The forced-out power immediately disappeared, and the newly enlarged black net quickly returned to its original size in the blink of an eye.
Li Yan once again probed the Demonic Core with his Divine Sense. He immediately discovered that the power within the Demonic Core had diminished slightly.
It was just as he had guessed. Demon Clan magical treasures could only be driven by Demonic Qi. It was just that the Demonic Qi in this Demonic Core was a rootless source; a little was used up each time.
Li Yan still had several Demon Clan magical treasures in his possession: the demoness's pink flower, a jade comb, and a purple rope.
From that battle, he already knew the approximate uses of the small black net and the pink flower, but he didn't know what the other two Demon Clan magical treasures were for.
Li Yan was no longer willing to waste the Demonic Qi in the Demonic Core. His extravagant hope of figuring out how the Demon Clan used spiritual energy to cultivate had also turned to dust.
With a light wave of his sleeve, the last remnants of the demoness's body in this world also turned into a puff of black smoke and eventually dissipated.
Li Yan had just wanted to know the difference between demonic arts and cultivator techniques. Since he couldn't get to the root of it, Li Yan certainly wouldn't waste any more time on the matter.
Li Yan quickly brought his thoughts back, no longer thinking about the exploration of demonic arts from a few days ago. The pressing matter was to return to the sect as soon as possible.
Just like that, Li Yan flew south in the far northern lands of the Jingtu Sect for more than ten days. On this day, he finally arrived near Griefspirit Manor.
He knew there was a teleportation formation nearby, the one that Ding Yushan had pointed out to him back then. Now, of course, he wanted to borrow it.
When passing by Griefspirit Manor, Li Yan did so quietly, without alerting anyone in the manor.