The sensation just now was more than just the fluctuation of Spiritual Energy from the formation.
There was a Gu-insect in Zhao Min's heart that was extremely sensitive to the auras of the powerful—an aura that could make it tremble from the very depths of its Divine Soul. Just now, Zhao Min's heart had trembled ever so slightly, which made her even more certain of her judgment.
Closing her eyes again, Zhao Min's mind suddenly recalled the Jade Slip Li Yan had sent a few days ago. A faint smile unconsciously touched the corners of her lips, though it vanished in an instant.
'He finally knows about the existence of the Heart-Entangling Twin Gu, and he holds no resentment at all!'
At this thought, joy blossomed in Zhao Min's heart.
Back when she had planted the pair of Heart-Entangling Twin Gu, she had done so with the intention that if Li Yan could not be cured, they would perish together. However, if she were to perish first, it would mean she had implicated Li Yan. She wondered if, under the Nine Springs, Li Yan would feel unreconciled.
Now, it seemed all her worries had been for naught.
As this thought crossed her mind, Li Yan's voice once again echoed in her consciousness.
"My remaining injuries have healed. The twin auras of our bond now flow through my bones, purifying my heart's meridians...
Senior Sister, do you truly not intend to return to the sect?
But it is my will to return. No matter the thousands of difficulties, I swear to strengthen our sect and bring the art of the Twin Chan Hearts to the pinnacle of unified success!
If Senior Sister has her own Immortal Fortune, then cultivate with peace of mind. If fate allows, we shall meet again in the Immortal Realm!"
The first part of Li Yan's message seemed to be a genuine response to her previous one, reciting a few lines from the supposed opening chapter of the Twin Chan Hearts. But these were just lines Li Yan had patched together and modified from the opening chapters of some cultivation methods he had seen. The opening chapters of various cultivation methods were generally overviews and general outlines, and one couldn't discern the true essence of the technique from them. So, even if Shanggong Changge had seen it beforehand, it would be very difficult for her to distinguish its authenticity.
After all, Li Yan hadn't fabricated it out of thin air; he had taken the opening chapters of other cultivation methods, deleting and trimming them before piecing them together, giving it a specious feel. But the meaning he wanted to express was perfectly clear to Zhao Min.
"'The twin auras flow through my bones' was a deliberate way to point out the meaning of 'Gu'. 'Purifying my heart's meridians' meant that Li Yan had already discovered the Gu-insect in his heart meridians!"
As for asking later if Zhao Min would return with him, that was something he had to ask. Whether Zhao Min could reply was another matter entirely. Otherwise, if the two of them came out together and Zhao Min left midway without Li Yan asking a single question, it would seem like they were hiding something. Only by asking would Shanggong Changge find it normal.
After Shanggong Changge read the meaning in Li Yan's voice transmission, even with her sharp mind, she didn't see anything amiss. Therefore, she had given the Jade Slip to Zhao Min intact.
Shanggong Changge read the final words of Li Yan's message several times and felt there shouldn't be a problem, but Zhao Min saw another meaning.
"My will is to return to the sect, no matter the thousands of difficulties..."
Li Yan's sect was on the Desolate Moon Continent. This meant he was going to find a way to return to the Desolate Moon Continent and would do everything in his power to achieve it.
"...and bring the art of the Twin Chan Hearts to the pinnacle of unified success!"
This sentence seemed to suggest that the so-called Twin Chan Hearts cultivation method required some kind of unification to reach great success, such as the unification of qi and blood, essence and qi, or tendons and bones. Of course, this was the core of the method and would not be stated explicitly, which Shanggong Changge understood.
But in Zhao Min's eyes, it was different. The unification of the "Twin Chan Hearts cultivation method" was the time when the "Heart-Entangling Twin Gu" would unify. How could the two Gu unify? They had to meet. This was Li Yan telling Zhao Min that he would definitely find her and leave this place with her.
But this hint didn't give a timeframe, not even a vague, approximate one. This was likely because after reading her previous Jade Slip, Li Yan had guessed how powerful the person who took her as a disciple was. Given Li Yan's nature, he would certainly not act rashly until he was confident.
The final words were a clear indication, telling Zhao Min to cultivate with peace of mind and wait for the right time.
'However, the White Demon Clan not only has numerous Nascent Soul cultivators but also exists at the Spirit Transformation stage. Our meeting may be a distant prospect!'
Thinking of her current situation, Zhao Min's heart sank with gloom for a moment. She had been here for quite some time, and Shanggong Changge had naturally told her about the history of the White Demon Clan. She now had a considerable understanding of them.
But this thought only lingered in Zhao Min's mind for a moment before she brushed it away. She had grown up and cultivated alone since she was a child. The resilience of her mind-nature was perhaps something even Li Yan couldn't compare to. Zhao Min knew that to return to the Desolate Moon Continent, she needed to constantly strengthen herself. Once she was powerful enough, what would Shanggong Changge matter? As she grew stronger, she would have the opportunity to seek any and all chances to find a way back.
'Since you spoke so highly of the 'Heavenly Demon White Jade Plate' cultivation method, then I will master it. Strength is my greatest Immortal Fortune and opportunity!'
Zhao Min's long eyelashes fluttered, and her entire aura slowly settled down once again.
...
More than three hundred li outside Mingdu City, the fish-headed cultivator with the surname Min was releasing his Divine Sense with a stern expression, scanning the surroundings.
At this moment, several sounds of something tearing through the air came from different directions. Soon, several Cangyu Sect cultivators, also with fish heads and human bodies, appeared in his field of vision. With a few flashes of light, they arrived one after another in front of him.
"How is it? Did you find any trace of that kid?"
The cultivator surnamed Min withdrew his Divine Sense and asked with a gloomy face. In truth, he already knew the answer; he himself had found nothing just now.
"No, none of the cultivators we encountered were him. We've already interrogated them," one of the fish-headed cultivators said with an unwilling look on his face. The others all had similar expressions, their faces filled with anger.
Although they spoke so fiercely, in reality, they had only interrogated some cultivators whose cultivation levels were not high. The moment they sensed that someone was not to be trifled with, they wouldn't even dare to approach, let alone interrogate them; they would have already fled far away. They didn't even dare to get close to some of the powerful Demonic Beasts that appeared below. They wouldn't dare to say these things to the cultivator surnamed Min.
However, this approach wasn't wrong. If that human kid was truly powerful, how would they dare to provoke him?
"Senior Brother Min, did you find anything on your end? That kid was clearly just a few dozen li away, but then he suddenly vanished completely. It's too incredible."
"I found nothing. He didn't leave the city these past few days, so he must have known he was being watched. He must have been thinking of a way to escape. To be able to vanish without a trace under our pursuit, he must have some kind of treasure that conceals his presence. However, this type of magical treasure is usually only effective for hiding when stationary. The moment he tries to move stealthily, his aura will be revealed. He must be hiding within a two-hundred-li radius. You all continue searching. Mark any suspicious places, and then we will go and investigate them one by one. If that doesn't work, we'll just wait here. I don't believe he can stay still forever."
"Senior Brother Min, should we contact the few from the Snow Moon Wolf Clan again? After all, there's strength in numbers..."
"No need. The last time we notified them, the kid never left the city, and the few from the Snow Moon Wolf Clan already gave up. They are still somewhat afraid of the human race and don't dare to provoke them too much. What a useless race," the cultivator surnamed Min said with an impatient look. They hadn't notified the Snow Moon Wolf Clan before because they wanted to kill this human cultivator and keep all the benefits for themselves.
Now that they had lost him, it wouldn't be good to go looking for them. It would be embarrassing to talk about. Besides, the few from the Snow Moon Wolf Clan really had the intention of letting the matter of their previous loss go. They had seen this when they had contacted them a few days ago.
...
After the black-robed middle-aged man left the room, the entire chamber once again returned to a state of soft tranquility under the light of the moonlight stones.
After another few dozen breaths, on the wall near the stone platform in the corner, a gentle ripple appeared. Slowly, a gray figure "peeled off" from the wall. The gray figure slowly solidified from illusion to reality. In the blink of an eye, a gray-robed youth was standing in front of the stone platform.
He rested his chin in one hand, quietly looking at the stone platform. After a short while, he finally murmured softly.
"He really does use this object to communicate with the outside world. This person is a hidden pawn for that sect in this city. Although I don't know why they would place a hidden pawn here. Whether it's to gather information or for some other purpose, that's not for me to know. But the power of the sect behind this person is definitely not trivial. Just from the light of the teleportation formation and the pure fluctuation of Spiritual Energy with almost no impurities, the inside of this stone platform should be inlaid with Mid-grade Spirit Stones. What an extravagant expenditure. Even just to set up this teleportation formation, it would be impossible without a Nascent Soul cultivator taking action. Is that sect ten thousand li away from here, or several hundred thousand li?"
Li Yan thought to himself, trying to judge the approximate distance to Zhao Min's sect from the fluctuations emitted by the teleportation formation just now. But he had clearly underestimated the ingenuity of this teleportation formation. The alchemy and artifact refining arts of the Demon Clan were far superior to those of the Desolate Moon Continent. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for them to have a teleportation channel that could cross two realms, or to refine something as heaven-defying as the "Realm-Breaking Pearl." All this showed that the Demon Clan's attainments in artifact refining were extremely profound.
Mingdu City was the largest city closest to the border of the Black Demon Clan. This was the most important frontline position for the "Sacred Demon Palace." Establishing an elite hidden post here was extremely important, as it could gather a large amount of intelligence for the "Sacred Demon Palace."
This formation was a long-distance teleportation formation personally refined by a Spirit Transformation stage elder of the White Demon Clan. Of course, in order to reduce the spatial fluctuations and the immense noise generated during teleportation, the White Demon Clan had also spent a vast amount of heavenly materials and earthly treasures to refine a total of just over a dozen of these few directional, miniature teleportation formations. They were then distributed to several key peripheral territories of the White Demon Clan. If one were damaged, even a behemoth like the "Sacred Demon Palace" would feel the pain.
Of course, Li Yan was completely unaware of all this. If he did know, he would only need to let slip a whisper, and the Hundred Dao Heavenly Treasure Pavilion would likely soon be attacked by spies from the Black Demon Clan. At that time, the White Demon Clan would probably want to eat Li Yan's heart raw.
In fact, this was all because Li Yan's focus in the entire Mingdu City was solely on the Hundred Dao Heavenly Treasure Pavilion; his purpose was very clear. Coupled with the ease with which he entered, he couldn't accurately gauge the preciousness of this teleportation formation. He had used the "Heaven-Stealing Kerchief" many times. Apart from his initial surprise, he now felt that when he broke through ordinary formations and restrictions, it was because the opponent's formation was too weak.
But he never considered that if the formation here was too weak, how could the Hundred Dao Heavenly Treasure Pavilion have remained hidden in Mingdu City for so many years without being discovered? This was also due to Li Yan's preconceived notions. Right now, he only wanted to find out Zhao Min's exact location and couldn't possibly escalate a small shop to a matter of interest between two clans. Otherwise, if he knew the origin of the Hundred Dao Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, he would certainly connect it to many other things, and thus have a clearer positioning of this small teleportation formation.
Li Yan's thoughts quickly returned to the scene he had just witnessed. He had remained hidden here because he wanted to get some information he desired.