"Oh, but to let Senior know, this junior's master is the Peak Master of Little Bamboo Peak. 'Wuyouzi' is a close friend of my master, who has lived in seclusion in the far north of the Jingtu Sect for many years. This junior's trip was to find Senior Wuyouzi.
"As for Martial Uncle Li saying that Wuyouzi is my master, it's because he once saw this junior accompanying Senior Wuyouzi, and Senior Wuyouzi did not explain in detail to Martial Uncle Li.
"Moreover, for a cultivator of my level to be out training, and being outside the Malevolent Spirit Sect, it is natural to be careful in all things. When I met Martial Uncle Li a few days ago, I couldn't very well explain."
Li Yan said this smoothly, without any hesitation. He had already considered these excuses in his heart, filling in all the loopholes.
"Oh? So little friend's surname is not 'Jiang'? And your trip to Daning City...
"Hmph, I understand now. You weren't going to Daning City to buy anything, but for the teleportation formation. It turns out that I have unknowingly become your pawn.
"On this whole journey, without you having to worry, I have been arranging one teleportation after another for you."
Hua Siwang was indeed an old hand in the martial world. Not only did he immediately guess that Li Yan had given a false name, but he also quickly realized that he had been used by this kid.
He was extremely angry, but thinking of the background behind the other party, if this kid's words were true, he was definitely not someone he could provoke. He could only snort coldly, a ball of fire in his heart with nowhere to vent.
But soon, he was made to feel much better by a few words from Li Yan.
"Senior Hua, it's not that this junior deliberately concealed it. After all, it's not easy for a minor cultivator like me to travel outside. However, after my master learns of this matter, he will definitely remember it."
To make a Golden Core cultivator of the Malevolent Spirit Sect owe him a small favor was more important to a cultivator from any sect outside the three major sects than giving him ten thousand Spirit Stones, especially since the other party's master seemed to be the Peak Master of Little Bamboo Peak.
'Wei Zhongran!' Hua Siwang suddenly remembered. Just now, his mind had been clouded by anger from feeling like he had been played by a minor cultivator, and he had overlooked some key factors in the other party's words.
He couldn't help but exclaim in his heart, and then he let out a heavy breath. Fortunately, he was walking at the very front of the team, so no one saw the momentary look of shock on his face.
For a moment, Hua Siwang felt that most of the anger in his heart had already dissipated. As his mind raced, he immediately sent a voice transmission, "Come to the front!"
While others did not notice Hua Siwang, Li Yan could tell from the slight fluctuation of the aura from the other party's body that he should have believed most of what he had said.
Especially when he later said that he would report this matter to Wei Zhongran, Hua Siwang's anger had clearly subsided by more than half. As for whether he would tell his master about this matter when he saw him in the future, that would depend on the situation.
For the current Li Yan, telling a few lies no longer carried any psychological burden.
Then, he received Hua Siwang's voice transmission asking him to come over. Li Yan smiled slightly in his heart. He knew what Hua Siwang meant. He wanted to find an excuse for him to leave the team.
Thus, under the astonished gazes of Deng Lingtian and a few others, Li Yan quickly passed the crowd and walked quickly towards the front. Of course, his sudden move also attracted the attention of others in Hua Siwang's team, but they did not dare to ask, because Hua Siwang also turned his head slightly and did not show any intention of reprimanding him.
Li Yan soon walked to about ten zhang from Hua Siwang and stopped.
At this time, Hua Siwang looked at where Li Yan was standing and sneered in his heart.
'Ten zhang. If I wanted to capture you, do you really think you could escape?'
But he did not know that ten zhang was Li Yan's minimum limit. He felt that under constant vigilance, with his current physical body having refined one-tenth of that drop of "Undead Nether Phoenix" Essence Blood, plus the Qiongqi Purgatory Art.
Although he certainly couldn't dodge an attack from such a close distance, if he resisted head-on, and the other party had some scruples, with a premeditated plan against an unprepared opponent, the other party would also be unable to kill him in one move, and he could definitely use the force to fly to the foot of the mountain on the other side.
In the eyes of many, Hua Siwang turned his head to look at the Malevolent Spirit Sect's side of the plaza. He seemed to be transmitting a message to Li Yan as his lips moved slightly. Then he turned around and continued to walk forward.
To others, it looked as if Hua Siwang was instructing Li Yan to do something. For Hua Siwang's status here, everything was very normal.
In fact, Hua Siwang had said nothing. He had just moved his lips randomly.
At that time, if this kid was really bold and reckless, and didn't care about his own life, and was really just making fun of him, and was not a disciple of the Malevolent Spirit Sect, then if this matter spread out, he would lose face, being played by a minor cultivator for no reason.
Now that he had made it seem like a fake voice transmission, others wouldn't know what he was saying. At that time, even if the thing he was most unwilling to see happened, he could immediately find other reasons to kill Li Yan, and the remaining reasons would be up to him to fabricate as he pleased.
With these preparations, Li Yan respectfully bowed to Hua Siwang's back, then leisurely left the team and walked slowly to the other side.
His actions made many in the team show looks of either envy or jealousy. The slightly overweight cultivator surnamed Zhou and Deng Lingtian and a few others were even more astonished, 'How could this cultivator surnamed Jiang so easily persuade Senior Hua? This is truly strange.'
Deng Lingtian, in particular, looked at Li Yan walking towards the Malevolent Spirit Sect's side, and then at Hua Siwang in front, who showed no sign of stopping and waiting. He lowered his head and began to think.
No matter what they thought, Li Yan had finally achieved his goal.
On the other side, as Li Yan continued to approach the assembly and registration point at the foot of the mountain on the Malevolent Spirit Sect's side, he slowly began to attract the attention of the people here.
Although this situation was still not what Li Yan wanted to see, it was the least attention-grabbing method Li Yan could currently achieve. It was better than having the entire plaza's gaze on him.
It was just that there were several hundred people in front of Zhu Gaotai and the others, and they were all busy with registration. For a time, no one raised their heads to pay attention.
And when Li Yan was finally less than thirty zhang from Zhu Gaotai and the others at the very front, he not only felt many curious gazes, but also several sharp, sword-like gazes piercing his body.
This made Li Yan feel as if he were carrying a heavy mountain on his back. His walking pace slowed, his figure began to stagnate, and he found it difficult to take a step.
These few sharp gazes were from the three Golden Core cultivators leading the teams here. Of these three gazes, one carried a dense killing intent, while two carried a hint of playful interest, as if watching a show.
The one who had already developed a killing intent towards Li Yan was the Golden Core cultivator standing with his hands behind his back at the foot of the mountain at the very front. At this moment, Zhu Gaotai and the others were registering the cultivators he had brought.
Li Yan quickly understood the other party's meaning. This Golden Core cultivator had mistaken him for a greenhorn, a cultivator who wanted to cut in line. And the other two Golden Core cultivators felt there was a show to watch, probably thinking in their hearts.
'Hehehe, where did this kid come from, daring to cut in line here? This is clearly a slap in the face to the leader in front.'
And just as the eyebrows of the Golden Core cultivator at the very front had already stood up, and he was about to open his mouth to reprimand him, Li Yan spoke first.
Li Yan was also helpless. It was originally a very small matter; he just wanted to return to the sect. But now it was getting more and more troublesome.
He couldn't let that Golden Core cultivator speak. If he did, it would definitely be a reprimand. Then everyone in the plaza would notice him. No matter the final result, he would still attract everyone's attention.
Li Yan was the type who would rather no one knew him, so he could safely hide in the dark. That made Li Yan feel safer.
So he hurriedly spoke first, but his voice was controlled within an appropriate range, "Senior Brother Xia, Senior Brother Zhu, after a year's separation, your style is still the same. This junior pays his respects."
As he spoke, Li Yan also turned around and no longer looked at the Golden Core cultivator at the foot of the mountain. Instead, he cupped his fists at the ten Malevolent Spirit Sect cultivators.
As soon as Li Yan said this, the first to be astonished were the three Golden Core cultivators, especially the one standing with his hands behind his back at the foot of the mountain. The reprimand had already reached his lips, but he heard the words from this unknown young cultivator. He was slightly stunned, but immediately realized that this person was familiar with the Malevolent Spirit Sect cultivators.
Although the cultivators from the Four Great Sects responsible for registration here were only at the Foundation Establishment stage, no one dared to look down on them in the slightest. Even the Golden Core leaders had to choose their words carefully, for fear of being bad-mouthed by these registration cultivators behind their backs.
Although the Golden Core cultivator standing with his hands behind his back at the foot of the mountain had stopped his reprimand, his gaze was now sizing up Li Yan. He saw that Li Yan's attire was not that of the Malevolent Spirit Sect, so his first reaction was that this person might be here to curry favor with the Malevolent Spirit Sect cultivators.
Li Yan's action not only made these three Golden Core cultivators think this way, but everyone who saw his action also thought the same. This kind of thing happened in both the mortal world and among cultivators.
A wave of sourness rose in the hearts of many cultivators, 'I wonder how this person happened to know the Malevolent Spirit Sect cultivators here. Now he is shamelessly going forward to curry favor. This person's utilitarian heart is too eager.'
They all knew the pride of the disciples of the Four Great Sects. Although they appeared to be polite to others, in reality, they all looked down on everyone. Every cultivator who was accepted as a disciple by the Four Great Sects was once a prodigy of their own sect.
So, next, this greeting cultivator might be "politely" asked to go back. After all, this was a place for official business. How could it be a time for you to come over for a private chat?
Just as many cultivators here were waiting to watch the fun, and the three Golden Core cultivators were also sneering in their hearts, something unexpected happened right before their eyes.
The ten Malevolent Spirit Sect cultivators, who were startled by Li Yan's voice and looked up, all looked at Li Yan. First, "Senior Brother Xia" looked at Li Yan with a puzzled expression. For a moment, he felt that this person was very familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him before.
The reason for this was actually very simple. Li Yan's appearance had changed the most in recent years, and he had happened to leave the Malevolent Spirit Sect during this period.
Before, he had always lived in seclusion. The number of people who could see him frequently was not large, so for a time, "Senior Brother Xia" was unable to match the person in front of him with the Li Yan of the past. He just felt that this person's face was somewhat familiar.
Just as everyone was stunned, the first to react was Zhu Gaotai. He and Li Yan belonged to the same generation of young talents, and they had interacted during the competition in the secret realm.
Especially later in the secret realm, Li Yan had saved their lives, so his familiarity with Li Yan was deeper than others.
"Junior Brother Li... Yan? Li... Yan?"
He couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice. It was just that the tone in the first part was deliberately paused, while the latter part was somewhat hesitant.
That was because before, although Li Yan's cultivation was not enough, his master was a Golden Core expert, so they had always called Li Yan "Martial Uncle Li."
Just now, he had unconsciously almost called out "Martial Uncle Li" again. Fortunately, he reacted quickly enough. He quickly remembered that he was also at the Foundation Establishment stage now, so he corrected himself in time. Otherwise, it would have been a joke.
"You are... Li Yan?" At this time, "Senior Brother Xia" on the side, amidst Zhu Gaotai's hesitant voice, also finally connected the person in front of him with the silent young cultivator from the past.