Li Yan's face was terrifyingly gloomy. With his shrewdness, he had only ever been manipulated when his strength was inferior. When had he ever been plotted against like this? Not even the cunning Strategist Ji from back then had managed it.
But after just a few breaths, Li Yan's expression returned to normal. He pinched his chin with one hand, his eyes narrowed into a slit. At the same time, he knew that even building a small teleportation formation required a great deal of heavenly materials and earthly treasures. Even for the few cultivation families garrisoned in Mingdu City, producing these materials would be a significant blow. But for a Nascent Soul Old Monster, it was entirely possible.
This confirmed the fact that the Hundred Dao Heavenly Treasure Pavilion had a powerful backer. As for whether his Jade Slip was in the Storage Pouch the black-robed man carried on his person, with this small teleportation formation before him, Li Yan felt the chances were extremely slim.
After the sky brightened, the black-robed middle-aged man walked out of his cultivation chamber. He first went to the room on the other side where the materials were stored and looked around. After confirming that everything was normal, he walked out of the room with a look of suspicion on his face. Yesterday, at a certain point during his cultivation, he had suddenly felt a sense of unease. This premonition had come very abruptly. It was like the feeling he used to get on missions back in the army, a kind of instinct born from constantly walking the line between life and death in extremely dangerous situations.
On the surface, he remained motionless, his face showing no change, but he had already secretly released his Divine Sense to carefully investigate his surroundings. The result left him very puzzled; everything was normal, without any abnormalities. But he still trusted this baseless feeling. Similarly, most cultivators placed great faith in such things. They were cultivators, after all, and knew about ghosts and gods. They certainly knew that many things simply couldn't be explained by common sense.
The black-robed middle-aged man's heart pounded. He knew that either his feeling was wrong, or the other party's cultivation was far beyond his own. So, he didn't act rashly. It wasn't until dawn that he pretended to be on his usual routine and began to inspect each area, but the result was still that everything was fine.
However, the black-robed middle-aged man couldn't shake the unease in his heart. He stood in the courtyard, thinking for a long while.
"It's best not to leave the city anytime soon. I might run into trouble. Could it be that the city's Golden Core cultivators have their eyes on me? Did they discover something unusual here? Was last night's bad feeling because someone was probing with their Divine Sense..."
The black-robed middle-aged man spent the morning quietly in the backyard, not even going to the front of the shop. Around noon, the shop attendant from the front brought him a slip of paper. The black-robed man waved his hand, dismissing the attendant. He glanced at the note, and a look of understanding crossed his face.
"The cultivator surnamed Li finally left the city. So the reason he didn't leave the inn was because he somehow offended Min Zhulang and his group from the Cangyu Sect. They've been watching him like a hawk these past few days, so he didn't dare leave the inn, let alone come to my place. But a few Spirit Stones a day... hehe, he finally couldn't take it anymore and left in a hurry this morning. But the Cangyu Sect won't let him off so easily..."
Thinking of this, the black-robed man raised his finger, and a small flame ignited, instantly burning the paper to ash. Watching the flame in his hand gradually die out, the black-robed man thought for a moment before getting up and walking toward the room on the side.
After entering the room, the black-robed middle-aged man quickly took out a blank Jade Slip from his person and began to record in a low voice.
"General Shanggong, that person found nothing at my place and has already left the city this morning. However, he is now being targeted by the Cangyu Sect. Should we help him in secret, or let events take their course?"
After he finished, hesitation appeared on his face as he wondered if this was a bit rash. But after some thought, he decided to send the Jade Slip. After all, this kid had some connection with General Shanggong's disciple. Otherwise, General Shanggong would have killed him directly long ago. Why go through all this trouble? The black-robed man was sharp. Through various signs, he had already guessed that General Shanggong held this new disciple in high regard. It was best to inform General Shanggong about Li Yan's life or death, just so she would be mentally prepared and it wouldn't affect the relationship between her and her disciple.
Having made up his mind, he walked quickly to the stone platform in the corner of the house and gently placed the Jade Slip in its center. Then, he patted his waist, and a small, exquisite jade tablet appeared in his palm. He tossed the tablet into the air. With a spin, the small jade tablet floated above the stone platform. He began to chant, and streaks of green Spirit Power flowed from his hands, continuously pouring into the small jade tablet.
Before long, the floating jade tablet suddenly shot a rainbow-colored beam from its center, striking the stone platform below. The stone platform, which had been motionless and only emitting a faint white light, suddenly began to vibrate with a low "hum." Then, one after another, the complex runes on it lit up.
In less than three breaths, the light from the runes grew brighter and brighter, gradually rising into the sky. It soon formed a small white pillar of light above the stone platform, which then enveloped the entire platform. The moment the white pillar of light was fully formed, it shot up into the sky, disappearing into the void above. Silently, in the blink of an eye, the white pillar of light vanished, and the vibration of the stone platform ceased.
The small jade tablet fell back into the black-robed man's palm with a soft "thud." Everything in the room returned to tranquility, and the Jade Slip that the black-robed man had placed on the stone platform had vanished, leaving the platform empty.
After doing all this, the black-robed man did not leave immediately. He put the jade tablet away and stood there quietly by the stone platform, his hands behind his back, motionless, as if waiting for something. About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the stone platform in the silent room began to vibrate slightly again. The black-robed man's spirits lifted. He quickly looked over, and the complex runes on the stone platform lit up once more. Then, with a sudden burst of dazzling white light, all sound vanished into nothingness again.
And this time, a pale yellow Jade Slip appeared on the stone platform. The black-robed man quickly picked it up and pressed it to his forehead. Immediately, an incomparably cold voice entered his mind.
"Let him be. The matter ends here! What happened today is never to be mentioned again. Otherwise, you won't need to return to the clan alive."
Hearing the first part of the message, a playful look appeared on the black-robed man's face; he knew General Shanggong was using a borrowed knife to kill. But when the latter words entered his mind, his whole body was instantly drenched in sweat. He had brought a disaster upon himself for no reason today. The next moment, a flame rose from his hand, and the Jade Slip was instantly reduced to nothing.
It took more than ten breaths for the black-robed man to fully come to his senses. He collected his thoughts and forced himself to walk out the door with a calm demeanor. However, he had already made up his mind. Even if General Shanggong's disciple came looking for him in the future, he would deny knowing anything about what happened afterward, even to his death. His only interaction with the cultivator surnamed Li was when he delivered the Jade Slip. He knew nothing about anything else.
'Yes, that's it. I don't know anything else!'
The mind of a Nascent Soul Old Monster was unfathomably deep. A few days ago, he had been praised for his efficient work. Today, thinking he had once again understood her intentions, he acted on his own and nearly cost himself his life. In the future, he would just follow orders. He could no longer act so recklessly; it was far too dangerous.
At this moment, in a celestial Cave Residence more than seven hundred thousand li away from the capital city, the stunningly beautiful Shanggong Changge, dressed in a palace gown, was looking at a fish pond in the center of the residence where Spiritual Energy swirled like mist. Her fine eyebrows were slightly furrowed.
"That Li kid has been targeted by the Cangyu Sect. That saves me future trouble. I hope the Cangyu Sect is clean with their work. However... the Cangyu Sect, an unranked foreign clan, now dares to make a move on human cultivators. This is what I need to pay attention to. Although many elders in the clan no longer care about the human race, on the surface, things still need to look proper. Otherwise, do they really think our clan is in decline? It seems some sects need to be disciplined, given a good warning so they know who the leader in the west is. I imagine those old folks in the clan won't agree to someone testing the waters and then slowly leaning towards the 'Black Demon Clan'."
As Shanggong Changge thought this, her brows slowly relaxed. Then, her gaze passed through the Cave Residence and fell upon a valley behind it. That was where Zhao Min was cultivating.
"You are your master's hope. Everything in the past was just a mere illusion for you, a flower in a mirror or the moon in water, ultimately empty. This is your path now, a great Dao to the heavens..."
At the same time, in a secret chamber in the valley behind the Cave Residence, the water-attribute Spiritual Energy was so dense and churning it was almost tangible. If an ordinary Golden Core cultivator were to stay here for an hour, it would be equivalent to seven or eight days of arduous cultivation outside. However, if one's aptitude was lacking, they wouldn't be able to cultivate here all day. Such a massive influx of dense Spiritual Energy would clog their Dantian, preventing their cultivation method from circulating, and posing the risk of their physical body exploding.
Zhao Min sat quietly cross-legged, dressed in white. A blue light around her body expanded and contracted erratically. Suddenly, as if she sensed someone was prying, she opened her beautiful eyes, her face devoid of any expression. Then, she glanced at the Jade Slip placed by her side, and only then did a rare fluctuation flash in her eyes before she closed them once more.
She knew that the protective formation here was special; even a Nascent Soul cultivator's probe would cause a slight fluctuation. Coupled with the terrifyingly dense Spiritual Energy here, she was able to sense the abnormality in the Spiritual Energy during her cultivation.
Her master, in order to have her quickly reach the foundational entry-level of the "Heavenly Demon White Jade Plate" without others knowing, so she could stun everyone in the future, had also spared no expense. After bringing her back to the clan, everything was kept very low-key. She had not hesitated to give her own seclusion valley to Zhao Min. She had even activated the Nascent Soul-level protective grand formation here, precisely so that no one could probe the cultivation happening within. She claimed to the outside world that she needed to enter secluded cultivation after returning to the clan this time. Even her few disciples were put under a gag order, strictly forbidden from discussing anything about Zhao Min.
Of course, Shanggong Changge's other disciples were in a fog, unaware of Zhao Min's origin and situation. They only felt that their master's actions had become overly mysterious. Especially regarding this new disciple, who had vanished without a trace after being brought back to the clan. They had no idea where their master had arranged for Zhao Min to go, but they didn't dare to ask. Shanggong Changge was ruthless to a fault. Stationed at the border between the two races year-round, it was no exaggeration to say she had killed a mountain of people. These disciples were well aware of this; their master was devoid of emotion.
Although Zhao Min had closed her eyes, she knew her feeling just now was correct. It was definitely Shanggong Changge looking in her direction, and Shanggong Changge hadn't deliberately concealed it.